House panel to hold dialogue between Philhealth, hospitals
HOUSE committee on health chairperson and Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan on Monday said her panel will hold a dialogue this Tuesday between the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA) in connection with the issue on an updated PhilHealth circular on the Temporary Suspension of Payment of Claims (TSPC).
PhilHealth issued Circular 2021-0013 on the guidelines on TSPC to strengthen its measures in ensuring the rational use of funds by detecting potential fraud or reimbursement abuse through dubious claims.
PHA president Dr. Jaime Almora said the move will not only affect health care providers but patients as well.
In a statement, the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA), Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPi), and Philippine Medical Association (PMA) declared that they were “disengaging” with PhilHealth and warned that the bridge between the PhilHealth and the healthcare providers is “bound to collapse”.
Tan has called the meeting to clarify the circular and provide a venue to resolve the differences.
“We want to hold a dialogue between the PhilHealth and the hospitals. We do not want the bridge to collapse. We want to rebuild whatever trust and partnership that are left between the state health insurer and our healthcare institutions or providers. We cannot allow this conflict to persist in the face of the worsening pandemic in the country,” Tan said.
The virtual meeting of Tan’s committee will be aired live on Facebook of the House of Representatives at 9 a.m. this Tuesday, which will also feature a briefing by the Department of Health (DoH) and PhilHealth on the latest updates regarding the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act.
