Senator Sonny Angara has urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to fast track the reimbursment claims of private hospitals, saying the country could not afford to have its healthcare system plunging into another crisis.

Angara made the call after some private hospitals in Metro Manila and in the provinces have reportedly signified that they would no longer renew their accreditation with PhilHealth and will disengage with the state insurer for its failure to pay their reimbursement claims.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) announced that the hospitals planning to cut ties with PhilHealth are from Metro Manila, Iloilo, Cagayan Valley and General Santos City.

“Matagal ng ni rereklamo ng mga ospital itong mabagal na pag reimburse ng mga gastos ng mga ospital at pasyente; kelangan bilisan ng Philhealth ang pag proseso ng claims ng mga ospital otherwise magkakaroon tayo ng systems failure dito sa healthcare system natin (Hospitals have long complained about the slow reimbursement process of the hospitals and patients; PhilHealth should act fast in processing the claims of these hospitals, otherwise, we will have a healthcare systems failure),” Angara warned.

“Kapag di na babayaran ang health services maaaring may mag sara na ospital at mapeperwisyo ang publiko at ang nangangailangan ng serbisyong pangkalusugan (If they fail to pay for the health services, more hospitals will suffer and the public would have difficulty getting access to immediate health care services),” he said.

Angara pointed out millions of Filipinos are paying their PhilHealth dues through automatic deductions in their salaries, whether or not they earn much. Moreover, he said, the national government granted PhilHealth a P70-billion subsidy last year to enable PhilHealth to process recent claims.

He also sees the need for the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) to step in to investigate the reasons why the state health insurer is taking time to process the private hospitals' payment claims.

“Dapat din tingnan ng ARTA o ng Anti-Red Tape Authority ang mga proseso ng Philhealth para alamin ang rason sa mabagal na pagbayad ng mga health insurance claims ng mga ospital (ARTA should also look into the processes of PhilHealth and learn the exact reason why payment of health insurance claims of hospitals are so slow),” the senator stressed.

“Nasa ilalim tayo ng public health emergency kaya’t inexcusable o di katanggap tanggap itong nangyayari ngayon (We are now under a public health emergency, that’s why we find these recent developments so unacceptable),” he said.