Some Iloilo City public and private hospitals and the Uswag Molecular Laboratory have yet to collect P932.322 million from Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), according to Mayor Jerry P. Treñas.
For the nth time, Treñas has again written a letter to the respective heads of the Department of Health, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) regarding the “extremely delayed settlement of charges and unjustified refusal of receiving and acknowledging the claims by PhilHealth Region VI.”
“Quite frankly, we can no longer keep track on how many times we have sent communications and conducted meetings with PhilHealth representatives together with the Department of Health in the hopes of coming up with a solution to this seemingly perpetual concern,” said Treñas.
The hospitals and their unpaid PhilHealth claims are the following:
- The Medical City Iloilo – P88.052 million
- West Visayas State University Medical Center – P49.998 million
- Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center – P190.756 million
- QualiMed Hospital – P30.393 million
- Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital – P58.114 million
- St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo – P95.205 million
- Western Visayas Medical Center – P112.714 million
- Iloilo Mission Hospital – P99.645 million
The Medicus Medical Center also has unpaid claims with PhilHealth while the city government-run Uswag Molecular Laboratory has P207.441 million in claims.
“Once and for all, may we earnestly implore your favorable action and benevolence to our dear hospitals by exhausting concerted efforts to aid in the release of these valid claims,” Treñas wrote.
More than an acceptable explanation from this agency, Treñas emphasized that “we demand answers and actions as our hospitals continuously suffer from losses brought about by their indifference.”
Earlier, PhilHealth has temporarily suspended the payments for claims that are said to be subject of investigation.
With the suspension coming at a time when hospitals and the molecular laboratory in the city are getting financially hard-up, Treñas said “presidential intervention” is needed. (Glenda Tayona)/WDJ