The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is eyeing to settle all of its unpaid claims from private hospitals before the end of the year.
Philhealth Corporate Communication Department head Rey Baleña said PhilHealth president and chief executive officer lawyer Dante Gierran already ordered their regional offices to fast-track the processing of said claims.
“Our hospital payments will soon be released especially for those Covid-19 (novel coronavirus disease) claims,” Baleña said in a virtual interview with PTV last Thursday.
Philhealth issued the statement after members of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPi) renewed their threat to no longer renew their accreditation with the state health insurer.
This after Philhealth allegedly failed to pay P20 billion worth of claims from the private hospitals.
Baleña said Geirran already engaged in talks with PHAPi in an attempt to convince it to reconsider the moves of its members, which will make it harder for Philhealth members to get their reimbursements.
He said they asked for the understanding of the PHAPi for the delays in their reimbursement, which, he said, could be attributed to impact of the pandemic to their office operations.
As of Thursday, Baleña said they have yet to receive any notice from a private hospital, which states it will no longer be renewing its Philhealth accreditation.
Despite the said limitations, Baleña said Philhealth was still able to settle P152.8 billion worth of claims from Jan 2020 to Oct. 28, 2021.
“This is 75 percent of the total claims, which we received,” Baleña said.