Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Sunday urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to provide hospitals some leeway and postpone the implementation of its Circular No. 2021-0013 which hospital and health provider groups believe conveyed the state insurance agency’s “mistrust” towards them.
Go said he has reached out to PhilHealth President Dante Gierran, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Secretary Carlito Galvez to help resolve the issues concerning the temporary suspension of payment of claims that are subject of investigations due to alleged fraud, among others.
“Bilang Chair ng Senate Committee on Health, umaapela ako sa PhilHealth na huwag muna ituloy ang kanilang nasabing Circular No. 2021-0013. Bigyan natin ng palugit dahil iba ang sitwasyon ngayon (As chair of the Senate committee on health, I appeal to PhilHealth to suspend Circular No. 2021-0013. Let’s give them some leeway because we are in a difficult situation now),” Go said in a statement.
“May hinaharap pa tayong pandemya at kailangan nating magtulungan para malampasan ito at maproteksyunan ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan (We are facing a pandemic and we need to help each other out so we can overcome this problem and protect the lives of our people),” the senator added.
Go said that while he has no qualms over PhilHealth’s move to introduce reforms in its system to protect public funds from being used by unscrupulous individuals, he said the agency should also consider the ordinary citizens that would be affected in case the country’s public health care system is jeopardized by funding issues.
“We are still in a public health emergency and we cannot afford instability in our health system. We need to be more flexible so we can prioritize what our people need at this time particularly the promotion of their well-being and protection of lives,” he said.
“Ang payo ko sa PhilHealth at sa mga ospital na may pending claims, ayusin niyo na agad ang mga dokumento para hindi na matagalan ang pagbayad. Yung mga mapatunayang may fraudulent claims, iyon ang kasuhan (My advise to PhilHealth and hospital that have pending claims, please get the documents ready so processing of payments would be fast. Those with fraudulent claims will be charged),” he stressed.
“Yung mga maayos naman, tulungan natin silang magampanan ang tungkulin nila sa komunidad lalo na ngayon na napaka-importante ng mga ospital dahil tumataas na naman ang kaso ng mga nagkakasakit (Those who have no issues, let’s help them perform their duty to the community, especially at this this time when hospitals are very essential due to the rising number of people falling ill),” he appealed.