PhilHealth appeals to private hospitals to honor agreement

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) appealed to private hospitals following the report that the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) may stop honoring Philhealth benefits to its 600 members nationwide due to the  delayed release of reimbursements for services rendered.

In a statement sent to Interaksyon, Philhealth president and CEO Alexander Padilla said:

“All our regional offices have made a commitment to pay claims of all our providers faster than the 60 days processing time as mandated by law.”

“We want to make it clear that the perceived delays in the payment of claims of PHAPI member-hospitals are not due to ‘possible mismanagement at PhilHealth’. Since we implemented the case-based payment system in January this year, we have been experiencing technical challenges that, we admit, are part of the innovation’s birth pains.

But rest assured that we are working double-time to address these glitches and save our partner-providers from further inconvenience,” he added.

Padilla stressed that they continue to have talks  with the PHAPI pertaining to the claims issue.