RICHARD (not his real name) was rushed to a private hospital in Cebu City in 2013 after he fell down the stairs in a rented house in the city’s Barangay Capitol Site.
He needed to be admitted for treatment but had to stay at the emergency room for almost six hours since he could not provide the P5,000 deposit prior to admission, until a friend came to his rescue.
Richard said his friend paid for the P5,000 deposit and stood as his guardian while waiting for his parents to arrive from northern Cebu.
When Richard learned that President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Aug. 3 Republic Act (RA) 10932 or “An Act Strengthening the Hospital Anti Deposit Law,” authored by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, he was more than elated. Finally, he said, patients who need emergency treatment but could not afford to make a deposit no longer have to beg for admission.
It is precisely for incidents experienced by the likes of Richard that Cebu provincial and city officials welcomed the newly signed law imposing stricter penalties against hospitals that refuse to entertain emergency cases without cash deposits.
Gov. Hilario Davide III lamented the poor are usually victimized by the “no deposit, no admission” practice common among private hospitals.
He said he had personally received complaints from people about this policy being imposed by private hospitals and was elated that a “very good law” like RA 10932 finally came along.
But even without RA 10932, province-owned hospitals already have a no-deposit policy, according to Provincial Health Office (PHO) head Dr. Rene Catan.
Catan said anyone brought to the emergency rooms of the 12 district hospitals and four provincial hospitals in Cebu province are not asked to make a deposit.
Catan, who used to be in private medical practice, said private hospitals are usually operating for profit, and service is just secondary. He added that the most vulnerable area in the hospital for this kind of abuse is the emergency room.
Usual deposit rates will range between P5,000 to more than P10,000.
Under RA 10932, hospitals that would refuse treatment of emergency-case patients due to lack of money will be fined from P100,000 to P1 million.
The law also authorized the Department of Health (DOH) to revoke the license to operate of a health facility after three violations of the new law.
Clear guidelines needed
For Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, there should be a common ground between the proponents of the new law as well as the hospital operators, some of whom have opposed the law.
“As much as possible, we can meet halfway on this. There are instances when there is immediate need for emergency. There has to be a common ground,” she said.
Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, who is also the city’s deputy mayor of health, said the new law is commendable and timely. But she also believed there should be proper and specific guidelines in implementing the new law.
“It should be confined strictly to emergency cases only, and the guidelines that define what should be categorized as emergency cases should be clear and unambiguous in order to avoid confusion,” she told Cebu Daily News.
If a patient does not fall within the definition of emergency cases, then they should be subjected to the regular and ordinary admission procedures, she added, because hospitals also have their own operation costs.
“This is one of a series of tangible social legislation that the poor sector of our society needs. This will deter unscrupulous hospitals from shooing away
emergency patients just because they could not pay. That practice really has to end, and this law is a big step towards that direction. We just have to make sure this law is successfully implemented,” De Los Santos said.
Under the law, hospital officials who demand any forms of advance payment as prerequisite for admission or medical treatment could face a prison term of up to six years.
The health facility will face revocation of license after three repeated violations of this law.
But the medical facility may refuse an emergency patient “by reason of inadequacy of the medical capabilities.”
Leaders of militant groups in Cebu also welcomed the passage of RA 10932.
Teodorico Navea, chairman of Sanlakas Cebu, however, also raised concerns that although RA 10932 is beneficial in times of emergency, the government should also find a way to assist patients or their families who could not afford to pay their medical bills.
Navea believed the answer is for the government to offer free services to the poor in public hospitals.
Anakbayan Cebu coordinator Niño Olayvar also said that he hoped the new law would “lead to the realization of providing more health services especially in public hospitals.”
Olayvar also hoped that the government will construct more public hospitals especially in rural areas.