Hospitals to seek TRO on no-deposit policy

MANILA, Philippines - The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPi) is set to file a petition for a temporary restraining order with the Supreme Court against the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law.

According to PHAPi president Rustico Jimenez, Republic Act No. 10932 is unnecessary because “there is already a law that punishes us and gives us fine when we do not do anything to the patient in the emergency room.”

He was referring to RA 8344, or an Act Penalizing the Refusal of Hospitals and Medical Clinics to Appropriate Initial Medical Treatment and Support in Emergency or Serious Cases. This was enacted in August 1997.

Jimenez said that RA 10932 “will be subject to abuse” as what has happened in some hospitals. ?

“Patients are already using this law not to deposit to be able to be admitted in hospitals. In fact, one hospital in Bicol is closing because of this. That’s our concern,” he said.?

He cautioned that if this trend will continue, “most of the hospitals especially in the provinces will get bankrupt and eventually close.”?

“Right now, we need at least 30,000 more bed capacity hospitals all over the Philippines because there are already 100 million population. We are supposed to have 100,000 beds all over the Philippines,” he added.?PHAPi also finds the stiffer penalties provided by the law to be “oppressive” because a majority of hospitals have been complying with the amended RA 8344.

Jimenez said that imposing higher penalties is also insulting to those who are compliant with the old law. 

He lamented that many hospitals have not yet been paid by their patients who were discharged after submitting promissory notes to cover unpaid balances in their hospital bills.  

“The problem is the government does not consider us as partners in health care delivery although we do what the public hospitals cannot do. This (RA 10932) is giving an impression that all of us demand deposit before serving our patients,” Jimenez added.