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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DOH failure to pay private hospitals on time frustrates ranking solon

DOH failure to pay private hospitals on time frustrates ranking solon

Published Sep 8, 2023 03:34 pm

At A Glance

  • House Deputy Minority Leader Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera has expressed frustration over the Department of Health's (DOH) failure to get private sector partners in healthcare, mostly due to perennial delayed payments to private hospitals and doctors. 

IMG-b4b6d7d2a711d1563bd07bd7f22ec74e-V.jpgBagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera (Rep. Herrera's office)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A ranking solon from the House minority bloc has expressed frustration over the Department of Health's (DOH) failure to get private sector partners in healthcare, mostly due to perennial delayed payments to private hospitals and doctors. 

According to House Deputy Minority Leader Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera, the DOH must be mindful of such financial commitments in order to turn things around. 

“One of the reasons why we're encountering difficulties in partnering with private hospitals is our inability to make timely payments,” Herrera said. 

“It will be very challenging to convince the private sector to participate if we cannot meet our financial commitments on time," underscored the lady solon. 

Herrera said that the government still owes private hospitals approximately P2.2 billion in allowances accrued during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Earlier, DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa admitted to the House Committee on Appropriations during the agency's 2024 budget hearing that they continue to face difficulties in persuading private hospitals to engage in the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) program. 

The MAIP program, managed by the DOH, aims to provide financial support to indigent and impoverished patients seeking medical examinations, consultations, treatments, and rehabilitation, including those admitted to government and private hospitals. 

"Private hospitals don’t want to sign a MOA (memorandum of agreement with the DOH), especially in areas where there’s no public hospital...Some of [these hospitals] don’t want to accept letter of guarantee. There are also physicians who do not want to accept letter of guarantee," Hebosa told Herrera and the other solons. 

Herrera raised these concerns during an interpellation session with the DOH chief, particularly focusing on the MAIP program's disbursement rate in 2022, which stood at a mere 63.8 percent. 

This disbursement rate translates to unutilized funds amounting to a substantial P9.4 billion. 

“Kami po dito sa Kongreso, malungkot po kami dun. Pwede po namin kayong tulungan sa dami ng hospital na nangangailangan, napakadali po nyan kung kami ang tatanungin ninyo kung saan ibababa ang pondo,” Herrera told the DOH chief. 

(We in Congress are sad over this. We can help you reach these hospitals, if you ask us that's easy, just tell us where we can download the funds.)

 

Related Tags

Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Partylist Ted Herbosa Department of Health Davao bernadette herrera
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