A group of private hospitals in the country decided to postpone its plan to hold a “PhilHealth holiday” next month wherein deductions for health services would not be accepted.
Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Associations of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI), said their members agreed to this during a recent meeting.
“Ngayon po, kinausap namin ang aming mga miyembro at hindi na po namin ipagpapatuloy ang PhilHealth holiday (We talked with our members and we will no longer push through with the PhilHealth holiday],” he said.
De Grano said PHAPI wanted to educate the public first on the PhilHealth holiday’s purpose and guide their parents on what to do during this period.
PHAPI initially scheduled the PhilHealth holiday on January 1 to 5 in support of the hospitals protesting the claims that are still not being paid by PhilHealth.
“Starting Jan. 1, i-encourage namin ang aming mga miyembro na wag muna tumanggap ng PhilHealth from January 1 to January 5, nang sa ganon po, gusto lang namin ipakita ang aming pagsuporta sa aming mga kasamang ospital,” said De Grano in an interview.
On Tuesday, PhilHealth appealed to the group to reconsider their plan.
Group of private hospitals postpones ‘PhilHealth holiday’
“We hope [Private Hospitals Associations of the Philippines Inc. president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano] will rethink his call to his member hospitals to go on PhilHealth holiday. Eventually, it will be the Filipino people who will suffer the consequences of such a call,” PhilHealth said in a statement.
Amid the postponement, De Grano said hospitals that had already cut their ties with PhilHealth might continue protesting.
“Yung nasa Iloilo na nakapagdesisyon na na kumalas sa Philhealth, tingin po namin itutuloy nila ‘yan dahil naputol na ang pakikipag-ugnayan nila sa PhilHealth,” he said.
(Regarding the hospitals in Iloilo that have decided to cut ties with PhilHealth, I think they would push through with that because they have stopped coordinating with PhilHealth.)
Last month, PhilHealth said it aims to settle unpaid claims to private hospitals by December.
“As of December 24, 2021, PhilHealth has fast-tracked the release of P11.64 billion for payment of claims through the Debit Credit Payment fast-tracked to hospital partners nationwide,” the state insurer said.
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