Push Admin

Where did P19.74B go? DOH, PhilHealth spar over status of late PhilHealth payments to hospitals

Article (news)

Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The facade of the PhilHealth Head Office in Pasig City on Sept. 5, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/01/04/philhealth.jpg"/><figcaption>The facade of the PhilHealth Head Office in Pasig City on Sept. 5, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — Officials of the Department of Health and state insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Wednesday sparred over the status of P19.74 billion in delayed PhilHealth payments to hospitals, during a Senate finance subcommittee hearing.PhilHealth officials. led by acting president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma, Jr.. sought to clarify the status of the delayed payments. <div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="grab" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/10/11/philhealth.jpg"/></figure></div>Of the P27.2 billion that PhilHealth owed government and private hospitals, P19.74 billion or 73% has supposedly been paid as of August 2, 2023. Around P9.3 billion allegedly went to government hospitals while P10.4 billion went to private hospitals.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/06/23/philhealth-now-owes-hospitals-p27-billion-hopes-to-pay-in-90-days">PhilHealth now owes hospitals P27 billion, &#x27;hopes&#x27; to pay in 90 days</a></li></ul>But quizzed by Sen. Pia Cayetano if these funds have indeed been received by the hospitals, Renato Limsiaco, Jr., PhilHealth senior vice president for fund management said the entire process for transferring the funds have been completed from their end.“Madam Chair, ang pera po na ito ay malamang na malamang, nasa ospital na po to dahil sa, yung pera na yan available on our bank. It’s a matter of pagcredit dun sa account ng mga hospitals,” he said.“Makikita lang natin once meron na tayong financial report na aktwal na mismo na pera na lumabas sa ating bank account. Gusto namin makuha kaso naka-down yung system natin, hindi pa 100%,” he added, alluding to the hacking of the PhilHealth website, which left only the system of only 6 regions operational.This statement however prompted a quick rebuff from Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, who, as health secretary, oversees the operations of 87 public hospitals. “We should verify first before we make statements if the money is in the hospitals. Because I did. After the statement [was made] publicly, I asked my 87 hospitals to actually give a report of arrears and what has been paid. And I have it with me, I will submit it to the Office of the Committee of Finance,” he said, without revealing the actual figure gathered from 51 of the 87 public hospitals.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/23/23/salary-of-philhealth-execs-almost-tripled-in-2022-coa">Salaries of PhilHealth officials almost tripled to P72 million in 2022</a></li></ul>“But I’m telling you, some of what our financial management vice president is saying is actually not true, based on what I’ve verified,” he stressed.PhilHealth officials sought to soften the blow of Herbosa’s remark.“If I may respectfully suggest to DOH Sec Herbosa, kasi this is 51 hospitals. So hindi pa po kumpleto so it will be hard to really to make a conclusion. So maybe it would it would be nice… Baka Sec. Ted, baka pwedeng ikumpleto na muna natin lahat ng 100 percent of hospitals and then tsaka i-submit. At least we could already draw conclusions. Kasi kung may kulang, it would be hard to determine kasi incomplete,” Ledesma said.For his part, Limsiaco explained the reconciliation of figures between PhilHealth and DOH-maintained hospitals is still on-going. “The figure presented by Sec. Ted is the hospitals’ figure. And on our part Madam Chair, our figure on the part of PhilHealth. Of course, may denied, may RTH and on their part, the denied RTH. Maybe kasama sa figure nila. On the part of PhilHealth, hindi siya kasama sa figure namin. So Madam Chair, these are subject of reconciliation that we are pushing with the Department of Health hospitals na kailangan nating makita, of course kailangan natin ma-fast track ang payment, Madam Chair… Reconciliation is very critical along this line para makita po natin Madam Chair,” he said.Earlier in the hearing, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PHAPI) president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano said PhilHealth still owes private hospitals “around P10-15 billion,” based on information he gathered from 35 out of 700 member-hospitals.Cayetano, who called the hearing to check if PhilHealth needs additional funding to meet its obligations, said that while the hearing clarified certain matters, some questions are still unanswered.“So is it clear to me? Well clearer, &#x27;no pero hangga’t hindi nila masagot sa akin dahil inaayos pa yung system nila, e di wala pa tayong natanggap na clear answer na nakuha ng mga ospital,” she told the media after the hearing.The senator, who also heads the Senate committee on sustainable development goals, innovations and futures thinking, said the cyberattack on PhilHealth’s website should not be used as an excuse for not being able to check the status of the payments to hospitals.“Yung mga cyberattack, we have to be prepared for that di ba? Government has to be prepared for that. It’s a security risk issue na yung mga tao walang mapuntahang mga hospital, yung mga hospital ayaw tumanggap ng pasyente dahil baka hindi sila mabayaran. That’s a security risk,” she said.“So sabi ko, kailangan may plano kayo na anong gagawin nyo pag-down ang system. Eh ngayon down ang system, hindi n&#x27;yo ma-verify na &#x27;yung sinasabi nyong approved for payment, so I have to believe them, sinabi naman talaga nila na approved for payment ang P19 billion, pero hindi naman masabi ng mga ospital na natanggap na nila yun.&quot;And no less than the government hospitals, represented by the Secretary, who says na wala pang clarity na natanggap nila yun. And yung representative ng private hospitals says hindi pa talaga natanggap yun. So sabi ko, asan na? Nasa ere ba? Nasan na yun dahil isang pindot lang naman yun dahil wala namang checkbook ngayon,” she added.Cayetano vowed to continue checking the status of the PhilHealth payments to hospitals.“So sabi ko linggo-linggo nyo ako ia-update. Next week I want to know what your executive committee said. May conditions ba o approved na? So linggo-linggo, hindi natin sila tatantanan until they give us the assurance that they will be able to pay the hospitals using this Debit Credit Payment para agad-agad makatangggap ng payment ang mga hospitals natin because they are our lifeblood, sila yung sumasaklolo and ayaw natin magsara sila,” she said.Under the Debit Credit Payment Method, PhilHealth will cover the claims of hospitals in good standing, subject to reimbursements if there are issues with respect to their claims, through a policy of payment recovery.Cayetano stressed the importance of immediately paying the hospitals’ claims with PhilHealth, especially with smaller hospitals who do not have the funds to wait for delayed payments.“There are statements coming from private hospitals that they’re turning away patients with the concern kasi na hindi nga sila mababayaran. So kung may history na sila na delayed ang bayad tapos may cyber attack pa, ang feeling nila baka beyond 60 days na naman to magbabayad, nagtuturn down sila ng patients,” she told PhilHealth officials.“Why should they be penalized because of the cyber attack?” she asked.Cayetano however said the delayed PhilHealth payments will not affect the 58-page Senate finance subcommittee report her staff prepared.“Si PhilHealth, wala syang request for funding. Ang sabi ni PhilHealth sa hearing ko last September, meron naman silang pambayad. So I’m confident in that sense di ba. Pero at least may pambayad, hindi kailangang saklolohan ng government pero yun nga, kailangan makarating sa mga ospital para naman, especially the small ones and even the government hospitals e may pambayad sa mga gastos. Nakakalimutan po natin na tao rin naman ang mga doktor. Kailangan din nyang sumweldo, may pamilya din yang papakainin. Yung mga staff nila, hindi naman ho mayayaman yan. They have to be paid and they have to be able to function,” she said.<div> RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2839366" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

PhilHealth officials led by acting president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma, Jr. sought to clarify the status of the delayed payments. 

Where did P19.74B go? DOH, PhilHealth spar over status of late PhilHealth payments to hospitals

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

News

Where did P19.74B go? DOH, PhilHealth spar over status of late PhilHealth payments to hospitals

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 11, 2023 07:12 PM PHT

Read More:

Senate

senator

senators

philhealth

DOH

hospitals

private hospitals

public hospitals

ANC

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.