Rama asks Philhealth to pay hospitals
Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama visits a private hospital in Cebu City on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama is appealing to the state health insurance Philhealth to pay their dues to hospitals, especially private hospitals here.
This after the mayor met with the hospitals in the city following the filling up of COVID-19 beds recently due to the surge in positive cases.
Rama said that the unpaid Philhealth dues give financial burden to private hospitals that rely on profit to run their facilities.
“I am also appealing to the national government because the problem of medical services kay wala pa sila bayri sa Philhealth. Philhealth bayad mo!” said Rama.
The acting mayor said the dues of Philhealth can reach up to millions and is causing hospitals to be incapable of paying or hiring more nurses.
This is the reason why the city government is already allocating funds to provide incentive of P10,000 for three months to private hospital nurses to cover encourage them amid this new surge.
Aside from incentives, the city is also hiring 100 nurses to augment the lack of personnel to the private hospitals.
Rama hopes Philhealth will work on the payments so hospitals can have the capacity to handle more patients.
Rama said that the management of COVID-19 in the private hospitals is improving.
He visited various private hospitals, the Cebu City Medical Center, and the Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC) on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
The private hospital where patients were seen in a viral Facebook post waiting outside with oxygen tanks has since been able to recover as all waiting patients are now inside the facility.
As of Tuesday, no more line were seen outside the facility and Rama said that the patients are well tended to.
“This is a different picture than before, I am thankful of the intervention,” said Rama.
The acting mayor said the situation is still far from being fully managed or improved, which is why they are now fast tracking the hiring of nurses.
Still, he assured that the city needs no national intervention as he maintains the city’s COVID-19 situation is under control.
/bmjo
READ MORE: PhilHealth revising coverage policies for COVID-19, other case
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