The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) said on Monday, Dec. 27, that it is hoping that the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPi) president will rethink its scheduled "PhilHealth Holiday" from Jan. 1 to Jan. 5 next year.
"We hope Dr. 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.
It also mentioned that as of Dec. 24, the agency already fast-tracked the release of P11.64 billion worth of payment of claims thru the Debit Credit Payment Method (DCPM) to hospital partners nationwide.
PhilHealth explained that under the third wave, all hospitals treating coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients and those offering the PhilHealth testing package can now avail of DCPM.
"To date 182 hospitals have submitted their letter of intent to participate in DCPM 3," PhilHealth said. "With the welfare of patients in mind, PhilHealth is constantly conducting reconciliation meetings on claims reimbursement issues with all its hospital partners nationwide to ensure continuing availment of members' benefits," it added.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III appealed to partner hospitals not to cut ties with the insurer amid the pandemic. He said that the government is doing everything to resolve issues concerning PhilHealth.