HOUSE Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera expressed deep concern and frustration over the inability of the Department of Health (DOH) to secure private sector participation in critical healthcare initiatives primarily due the persistent issue of delayed payments to private hospitals and doctors.
“One of the reasons why we’re encountering difficulties in partnering with private hospitals is our inability to make timely payments,” Herrera said, pointing out that the government still owes private hospitals approximately P2.2 billion in allowances accrued during the pandemic.
“It will be very challenging to convince the private sector to participate if we cannot meet our financial commitments on time,” the Bagong Henerasyon Partylist representative emphasized.
Herrera’s remarks came in response to revelations made by Health Secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa during Wednesday’s budget hearing in the House of Representatives. Herbosa admitted that the DOH was facing difficulties in persuading private hospitals to engage in the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) program.
The MAIP program, managed by the DOH, aims to provide financial support to indigent and impoverished patients seeking medical examinations, consultations, treatments, and rehabilitation, including those admitted to government and private hospitals.
During the budget hearing, Herbosa disclosed, “Private hospitals don’t want to sign a MOA (memorandum of agreement with the DOH), especially in areas where there’s no public hospital.”
Herbosa added: “Some of [these hospitals] don’t want to accept letter of guarantee. There are also physicians who do not want to accept letter of guarantee.”
Herrera raised these concerns during an interpellation session with the DOH chief, particularly focusing on the MAIP program’s disbursement rate in 2022, which stood at a mere 63.8 percent. This disbursement rate translates to unutilized funds amounting to a substantial P9.4 billion.
“Kami po dito sa Kongreso, malungkot po kami dun. Pwede po namin kayong tulungan sa dami ng hospital na nangangailangan, napakadali po nyan kung kami ang tatanungin ninyo kung saan ibababa ang pondo,” Herrera told Herbosa.
During her interpellation, Herrera also emphasized the importance of ensuring that all government hospitals have an ample supply of medicines, especially given the availability of off-budget funds allocated for this purpose.
Herrera raised the question, “In the Drugs and Medicines Revolving Fund, there is a balance of P5 billion. Can this fund be accessed to ensure a sufficient stock of medicines for our patients and constituents, considering the substantial balance?”
The legislator requested the DOH to furnish additional information regarding the revolving fund and to provide a list of hospitals that have not utilized this fund.
