PhilHealth says to scrap single period of confinement policy this month

MANILA — PhilHealth is looking to scrap its single confinement policy by the end of the month following repeated calls from lawmakers, the state health insurer's President and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma said on Tuesday.

Ledesma made the remarks on Tuesday during a joint meeting of the Senate Committees on Health and Demography as well as the Committee on Finance.

The single period of confinement policy states that a patient’s admission and readmission from the same illness or procedure within 90 days shall only be compensated once by PhilHealth.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, chair of the health committee, earlier deemed the policy as unfair and illogical. The removal of the policy as well as increasing case rates and expanding benefits to attain universal health care are among his calls to PhilHealth especially following billions of pesos of unused funds.

“'Pag tayo ay nagkasakit ng pneumonia, bawal na pong ma-cover na ito in the next three months. Masasabi ba natin kung kelan tayo magkakasakit ulit? Nangako kayo na tatanggalin ang single confinement policy,” he said.

Ledesma committed to the body that they would act on their calls with very specific timelines.

“Yong single period of confinement before the month ends. 'Yong increase in benefit case package before the end of November,” Ledesma said.

The official added that dental packages, services that are currently not included in packages, will also be added before the end of December.

“Commitment ito? Hindi ito bola? I need your commitment on the removal of the single confinement policy,” Go asked.

Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo informed the committee that the PhiHealth board is set to meet on Wednesday and that they are only awaiting the proposal for changes in policies.

“Nanggagaling sa executive ang proposal at yung board ang nagaabang mula sa execom. makarating lang yan bukas yung single period of confinement, kayang pagusapan basta mabigay ang CSW bukas,” Domingo said.

Senator Koko Pimentel expressed satisfaction with the timelines given by the Ledesma to which he underscored that the changes they expect to see will happen within the given timeframes.