As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the health and well-being of Filipinos, Senator and Chair of Senate Committee on Health and Demography Christopher “Bong” Go echoed President Rodrigo Duterte’s urgent request for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to fast-track the processing of unpaid claims due to various hospitals.

On Friday, July 23, Go reached out to PhilHealth President Dante Gierran and expressed his concern that his office has received numerous complaints of unsettled hospital claims.

“Bagama’t overwhelmed ang PhilHealth at apektado rin ang kanilang operasyon dahil sa pandemya, nagbigay ng assurance si Mr. Gierran na ginagawa ng PhilHealth ang lahat para mapabilis ang proseso,” said Go.

“Halos 12.5 million claimants ang pinoproseso nila sa isang taon. Equivalent po iyan to more than one million a month,” he added.

Earlier, PhilHealth has introduced the application of a debit-credit payment method (DCPM) to conveniently settle accounts payable to health care facilities (HCFs) during the global pandemic.

According to Gierran, aeound 60% of claims were paid under DCPM, and more or less 40% of claims are still being meticulously validated to ensure that there are no funds that will go to waste.

Go also mentioned that PhilHealth is in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation to probe cases with false claims to further prevent corruption and delay of processes.

As the Senator acknowledged the struggles of many hospitals to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Go also pleaded to hospitals to remain cooperative and honest with their claims, especially during these unprecedented times.

“Please validate your claims and make sure they are correct, accurate, and compliant with the law,” Go expressed.

“Kaysa maubos ang ating oras sa pagba-validate ng claims at pagpa-file ng kaso sa mga nanloloko diyan, magtulungan tayo upang masigurong walang masasayang o mananakaw na pera, at mas mapapabilis ang tulong sa tao,” he added.

Go further stressed the need for PhilHealth to settle unpaid reimbursements as he expressed his concern that it might affect the ability of health service providers to respond to the medical needs of Filipinos especially amid an ongoing pandemic.

In addition, Go mentioned that President Duterte assigned the Department of Information and Communications Technology and other government agencies to help PhilHealth address backlogs and streamline their operations.

“Nananawagan po akong muli sa pamunuan ng PhilHealth na bilisan pa ang kanilang processing ng mga lehitimong claims ng mga ospital para hindi maantala ang operasyon at hindi maapektuhan ang serbisyo ng mga health service providers sa mga tao,” said Go.

The Senator also emphasized that PhilHealth must intensify its response to the pandemic and must fulfill its financial obligations promptly as this would greatly help the nation particularly in this time of crisis situation.

“Siguraduhin natin na tama ang ibinabayad mula sa kaban ng bayan. At siguraduhin din natin na walang napapabayaang kababayan natin na may sakit, lalo na ‘yung mga walang matakbuhan,” said Go.

“Sa panahon ngayon, bawat araw, bawat oras, bawat minuto, napakahalaga po. Buhay po ang nakataya dito, ng ating mga kababayang Pilipino. Especially in times of crisis, every single peso counts. Let’s work together to save lives!” he ended.