Bacolod City – The Philippine Health Insurance System owes the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital about P1-billion since 2016.
Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, said the debt included about P364-million for the admission and care of Covid-19 patients.
He said that of the total amount that the health insurer owes the hospital, only about 1.2 percent had been collected, so far.
PhilHealth last week announced that it was able to settle their financial obligations to about 80 percent of the hospitals in the country.
Last month, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who is also the president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, raised concern over the non-payment of PhilHealth obligations during a meeting with three Cabinet secretaries.
Leonardia said he pointed out to secretaries Francisco Duque III of the Department of Health, Eduardo Año – Department of Interior and Local Government, and Carlito Galvez of the National Task Force against Covid-19 that the non-payment will lead to demoralization.
Philippine Health Association president, Dr. Jaime Almora, had said the unsettled debts on the Covid-19 reimbursements of PhilHealth are among the biggest challenges faced today by public and private hospitals.
(Adrian Nemes via The Visayan Daily Star, photo courtesy of Bacolod City Public Information Office)