PCP: Don’t blame docs’ fees for high cost of health care
A group of doctors has stressed that the high cost of health care in the country is mostly due to the limited coverage and delayed reimbursements of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), and not because of professional fees.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) said it is “seriously” concerned over the “growing public narrative that places doctors’ professional fees at the center of the discussion on rising health-care costs.”
“While the PCP fully acknowledges the financial hardship experienced by many Filipino patients and families, we believe that this framing risks diverting attention from the more fundamental and urgent issue: Inadequate health financing by the State, particularly through PhilHealth,” it said.
Lack of regulations
The statement came after Department of Health (DOH) spokesperson Albert Domingo said in a radio interview over dzBB that the agency has been asking groups such as the Philippine Medical Association to set standards on how much a doctor’s professional fee should range.
He was explaining that professional fees are covered under the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients program of the DOH, but it has been difficult for the agency to pay for such expenses because of the lack of regulations, resulting in cases of exorbitant or very low rates.
Domingo pointed out that professional fees are decided by the doctors themselves, which is why medical associations should take the lead on how these could be standardized.
The PCP, however, emphasized that doctors’ professional fees “are not the principal cause of high out-of-pocket health expenditures,” but PhilHealth’s limited benefit packages, low and outdated case rates, delayed reimbursements, and insufficient coverage for the “true cost of quality care.”
‘Inaccurate focal point’
“When health financing is inadequate, the financial burden is inevitably passed on to patients, and physicians become an easy but inaccurate focal point of public frustration,” the group said.
It pointed out that professional fees are the compensation of doctors for their expertise, years of training, and continuous development, as well as the “immense responsibility of managing life-and-death situations.”
The PCP further noted that many of its members give free or discounted services for indigent patients “because service to the Filipino people is at the core of our profession.”
The group urged the DOH and other policymakers to “redirect the conversation toward strengthening Universal Health Care,” saying that meaningful reforms must begin by improving PhilHealth through better coverage and benefits, as well as timely reimbursements.
