Seven private hospitals in Iloilo City decided not to renew their accreditation with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) after the later failed to settle their claims amounting to more than P500 million.
These medical facilities are St. Paul’s Hospital, Iloilo Doctors Hospital, Iloilo Mission Hospital, The Medical City Iloilo, Medicus Medical Center, Qualimed Hospital, Iloilo and Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center Inc.
Starting, January 1, 2022, they “will no longer deduct PhilHealth benefits and process PhilHealth claims.”
“We will provide the necessary statement of accounts for their reimbursement and will faithfully remit the PhilHealth contributions of our employees,” hospital chiefs said in a letter to City Mayor Jerry Treñas.
The amount of claims, as of August 31 this year, has reached P545, 094, 532.45. The state insurer initiated a reconciliation process on October 8, but this resulted in the accounting of only 15% to 20% of the claims.
“It is therefore clear that PhilHealth cannot comply with its obligations. We can see that we will be facing the same scenario in the future as what we had experienced prior, if PHIC will not comply with its legal obligations to us under Republic Act 7875 (The National Health Insurance Act), as amended,” the hospitals said.
“We are greatly saddened by this action we have to take. However, we are left with no other choice but to ensure the survival of our hospitals so that we can uphold our commitment to offer necessary and quality healthcare to our patients,” they added.IMT
