PhilHealth to settle 60% of reimbursement claims

MANILA, Philippines  —  More than half of the “valid” reimbursement claims of hospitals with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will be settled, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

DOH Undersecretary and treatment czar Leopoldo Vega told The STAR 60 percent of reimbursement claims of hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the adjoining provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal and Cavite will be paid.

At a public briefing, Vega noted they have been working with various public and private hospitals and they have agreed to “help us and support the government in terms of the allocation of more beds” so they can accommodate more COVID-19 patients.

“For treatment capacity, for the last two weeks, we have engaged the different government and even the private hospitals that they have to increase their bed capacity because this is in relation on what they receive from PhilHealth,” he added.

Yesterday, PhilHealth urged the public to report cases of “upcasing” or any form of abuse of the state health insurer.

In a statement, PhilHealth said it will investigate social media posts about health care providers “colluding with patients to declare minor respiratory symptoms such as asthma as COVID-19 to claim higher benefits.”

“PhilHealth reminds the public that protecting the PhilHealth fund is also a responsibility of every member,” it said.

It also warned those who post such information “without any proof to support their claims are not helping insofar as making the public at ease in the face of the pandemic.”

PhilHealth added that such posts might “malign and compromise the reputation of hospitals, doctors and even the agency itself, acts that may lead to legal actions such as cyber libel.”