Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III has urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to immediately settle the unpaid claims of various hospitals.
Duque said that the state-health insurer should immediately process the payment for those hospitals that already have complete documents.
“Of course, my position on the matter is accelerate payment on those with sufficient documentation. May legal basis (There has to be a legal basis),” said Duque during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
The Health chief assured that PhilHealth has enough funds to settle its obligations to hospitals.
“Merong pondo ang Philhealth (Philhealth has enough funds). It is sufficiently funded,” he said.
However, Duque also defended PhilHealth when it comes to validating hospitals’ claims.
“It is very hard to be paying money from the system, where contributions are hard earned money, without ascertaining that the documents are valid, and went through adjudication process,” he said.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, some senators also urged PhilHealth to also fast-track the processing of payments to hospitals in order to sustain their operations.
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