The Private Hospital Association (PHA) on Thursday, May 20, said huge amount of unpaid claims to the hospitals for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases are causing several financial distress to private hospitals.
In an interview with TeleRadyo, PHA President Dr. Jaime Almora cited one hospital an example where PhilHealth has yet to pay a total of P1.2 billion.
"Yun ang sinabi ng isang malaking ospital dyan sa Manila, I understand na nung ginawa itong debit-credit payment mechanism, magbabayad sila ng 60 percent dun sa in process claim. Nag-apply ata yung ospital na yun at somehow na-settle partially (That's what a big hospital there in Manila said. I understand that when they made this debit-credit payment mechanism, they would pay 60 percent of the in process claim. That hospital applied and was somehow partially settled)," Almora said.
"Sinabi nya sa isang officer namin na hindi sila kuntento doon sa na-receive nila (They told one of our officers that they were not satisfied with what they had received)," he added.
During Wednesday's Senate hearing, Almora said some hospitals are now scrambling for funds to continue operating as PhilHealth has yet to settle a "huge" amount of reimbursement for treating coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.
According to Almora, small hospitals are still waiting for reimbursements worth at least P50 million, while bigger ones hope to collect P700 million to P1.2 billion from the agency.
He added that some of the unpaid claims date back since the pandemic started in March last year.