(Screengrab from Philippine Health Insurance Corporation Facebook Page)
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) — Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. reminded its accredited health facilities anew regarding the timely application of statutory discounts that are entitled to senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
This, as the corporation received reports stating that a number of their partner hospitals failed to deduct the mandatory discounts from the total medical bills of patients prior to hospital discharge.
“We have to give whatever the law mandates. This is our responsibility to our members, and one of them is to ensure that their senior citizen or PWD privileges, whichever is applicable, are properly deducted from their hospital bills,” said Ledesma, referring to Republic Act Nos. 9994 and 10754 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 and the Act Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of PWD, respectively.
“Igiit natin ang ating karapatan dahil ang mga ito ay itinakda ng mga batas. Kami naman ay nakahandang umaksiyon sakaling may mga ulat kaming matatanggap mula sa ating mga miyembro (Let us assert our rights because these are mandated by the law. We are ready to take action in case we receive reports from our members),” the PhilHealth chief added.
PhilHealth also clarified that the application of the said deductions should come after the 12% VAT exemption and before the other insurance benefits.
Once the mandatory deductions are applied, patients should only cover the remaining medical bills. However, in case the senior citizen or PWD patients are admitted in a public hospital, they will not pay any fees in line with the “No Balance Billing Policy” of the corporation.
The PhilHealth-accredited health facilities shall also remember that only one discount applies if the patient is both a senior citizen and a PWD member.
The facilities that will be found liable in the mis- and non-application of discounts are intended to face corresponding sanctions including the payment of fines and the suspension or revocation of PhilHealth accreditation following their Performance Commitment with the corporation.
All PhilHealth Regional Offices (ROs), on the other hand, are strongly encouraged to implement the Healthcare Provider Performance Assessment System (HCP AS) to monitor the compliance of accredited health facilities with their Performance Commitment.
Members can report instances of mis- and non-deduction of PhilHealth discounts to the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in their respective local government or to the National Council on Disability Affairs.
The PhilHealth Callback Channel is also available to receive reports through 0917-898-7442 as well as the corporation’s official social media accounts on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PhilHealthOfficial) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/teamphilhealth). (PhilHealth/PIA-NCR)
