PhilHealth, nangakong babayaran na ang mga utang sa mga ospital sa loob nang 90 araw; pangangailangan at benepisyo ng healthcare workers, pinatututukan ng mga kongresista
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00:00 PhilHealth assured the Chamber that they will resolve their almost P30 billion debt to hospitals
00:07 in the near future.
00:09 Mela Lesmora has more.
00:11 The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation of PhilHealth
00:16 has promised to pay their debts to hospitals in the country within three months.
00:22 According to the House Committee on Appropriations, the bills that affect the services of hospitals are already in the air.
00:31 So they should be able to proceed.
00:33 There are so many hospitals that are not accepting indigent patients
00:40 because PhilHealth owes a lot of money to them.
00:45 There are also many that are not able to pay their staff frontliners because PhilHealth owes a lot.
00:54 We will completely, hopefully, or very high percentage, within 90 days,
01:00 the P27 billion, you can...
01:06 this is recorded, right?
01:08 So within 90 days, we will try to pay a very high percentage of the P27 billion.
01:15 We are already preparing. We had a meeting, our execom had a meeting yesterday.
01:20 We are preparing to use the DCPM formula, the Debit Credit Payment Mechanism formula.
01:29 Aside from this, PhilHealth also discussed with some
01:33 why the salary of some official agencies tripled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
01:40 Our salary was increased based on an EO, an executive order, 150.
01:47 Even before we were allowed to pattern our salaries on this EO,
01:55 we actually applied to the GCG and we have the certification process.
02:01 And we went through this and we were approved.
02:04 All of this was discussed in the deliberation of the Department of Health's budget for the next year.
02:11 For fiscal year 2024, the government is asking for more than P311 billion
02:18 along with their attached corporations and agencies.
02:21 We want to have better health outcomes with longer life expectancy,
02:26 stronger health systems that are resilient against pandemics,
02:29 and access of all Filipinos to all levels of healthcare.
02:33 At one point, the government also said that the funding of some DOH branches is not enough.
02:40 This is how it is in the new Philippines.
02:43 Our health and social services are being cut.
02:48 Madam Chair, I also echo the sentiment of our colleagues that this should not be the case with DOH.
02:55 I find it unfair on the part of the administration being wrongly accused that many programs are being cut because of health issues.
03:03 Because this is a budget briefing.
03:05 It is not possible that we have a drama that we are showing that all health programs are being cut
03:12 and making the administration look back where in fact it is not true.
03:16 Even though the pandemic is over, congressmen reminded that the government should still pay attention
03:23 to the needs of healthcare workers and to provide their benefits.
03:28 Authorities have been cutting health programs from then until now
03:35 as one of their priorities.
03:38 Mela Las Moras for the nation.