DOH has enough funds to pay private hospitals
Malacañang has assured the public that the Department of Health (DOH) has enough funds to settle the claims of private hospitals for services and treatments provided to indigent patients.
In a press briefing on Monday, Palace press officer Claire Castro clarified reports that some private health facilities have stopped accepting government guarantee letters covering the hospital bills of some patients due to the slow processing of reimbursements.
Citing the DOH, Castro said only 39 private hospitals in Batangas were facing issues with guarantee letters due to incomplete or missing documentation.
“The government is not having any problems when it comes to paying the bills of our fellow citizens who are covered by guarantee letters,” Castro said.
“This only applies to the 39 hospitals where the DOH still requires additional documents in order for them to be paid. So to the hospitals seeking payment, just complete your documents because, according to the DOH, there are sufficient funds available,” she added.
A guarantee letter is a document issued by a government official or an agency that is addressed to a service provider, which ensures payment for a service provided to a beneficiary.
It is a form of aid for patients who want to reduce their hospital bills or other expenses in private facilities under the DOH’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program.
Based on its 2025 budget, the DOH has P41.16 billion allocated for the social program that helps needy patients seeking treatment outside the coverage of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or PhilHealth.
Reasons for delay
The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (Phapi), which earlier reported that some of its members had stopped accepting guarantee letters due to the slow processing of payments, said that election-related disruptions and a shortage of personnel processing the reimbursements were to blame for the delay.
Phapi president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano said the DOH and other concerned agencies also attributed the slow processing of MAIFIP payments to the high volume of guarantee letters due for processing during the recent election period.
“Our member hospitals said that there were too many guarantee letters and there were only a few personnel who will process these,” he added.
The Phapi reported that some hospitals in Batangas earlier received payments amounting to P577 million under the MAIFIP program, although they still have around P450 million worth of receivables.
