PhilHealth debit-credit payment OK’d.

The pandemic task force approved the debit-credit payment scheme worth P9.7 billion for public and private hospitals in Metro Manila, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal.

All hospitals and medical facilities in areas with a high risk of coronavirus infections can now avail of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s debit-credit payment scheme to hasten the processing of their claims, the Palace announced Friday.

The government’s pandemic task force expanded the implementation of the new scheme, which was initially applied only in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, in an effort to expedite the state insurer’s payment to hospitals with valid claims.

“The Inter-Agency Task Force approved on Thursday the application of the debit-credit payment method of the PhilHealth in all high risk and critical risk areas,” presidential spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque said in a statement.

PhilHealth CEO and president Dante Gierran earlier acknowledged delays in the reimbursement process, attributing them to coronavirus infections among the state insurer’s employees, thus reducing workforce and prompting a lockdown of its office.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines has previously lamented that PhilHealth’s growing debt forced some medical facilities to cut down the workforce or implement staggered working hours.

The state-run corporation last year received P107 billion in claims for the service of hospitals to its members, and settled about 85 percent of this, Gierran said earlier this month in a news conference.

President Rodrigo Duterte later directed PhilHealth to settle its dues to ensure continuous delivery of health services amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic task force approved the debit-credit payment scheme worth P9.7 billion for public and private hospitals in Metro Manila, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal.

Health facilities eligible for the payment method should have no interim reimbursement mechanism fund balance on record.

It should also attend to Covid-19 patients or provide swab test packages.

In-process claims approved for payment as of 7 April this year were not covered by the order.

So far, the country has reported 971,049 Covid-19 cases, of which 11.1 percent or 107,988 were active infections.