LA TRINIDAD, Benguet September 08 – Rep. Eric Yap sought the downloading of some P80 million for the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) after its accreditation with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) was suspended because of an administrative case filed against it over a decade ago.
Earlier, PhilHealth imposed a three–month suspension to BeGH, due to an administrative offense made in 2011 effective September 1 to November 29, 2022.
“Very unfortunate yung suspension ng PhilHealth, ang tagal na case na nun, I think it was 2011 pa. But we have two ways to look at it, one is to complain and suffer the consequences, two is to do something, be creative and find a solution, at yung pangalawa ang mas pinili natin and we sourced funds and we have 80M medical assistance funds coming for BeGH anytime now,” Yap stressed.
The solon said the unfortunate suspension of BeGH will greatly affect those seeking medical attention in the province particularly the indigents.
“Hindi pwedeng wala tayong gawin e, everyday ilang dialysis patient ang umaasa sa PhilHealth para sa treatment nila, all of a sudden because of an administrative case from a decade ago, mawawalan sila ng sasandalan for their treatment?” added Yap.
In 2021, Yap also called on the Department of Health to defer the PhilHealth suspension which should have taken effect March 15 until June 12.
“Last year, we moved heaven and earth para lang hindi matuloy yung suspension order ng hospital. It was granted kasi PhilHealth fully understood na papatayin mo ang pasyente kapag na enforce yang suspension in the midst of the pandemic, aside from the fact na depleted din talaga ang pondo ng probinsya to begin with, so I asked Philhealth, what changed? Nasa pandemic pa din tayo and bumaba pa nga ang pondo ng LGU. Yes, it is a provincial hospital, pero marami din namang kailangan gastusan ang provincial government,” Yap exclaimed.
The provincial government earlier appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to lift the suspension as this will deprive the people from availing the national health insurance program and will affect the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law.
“Funds for this year are very scarce already, pa end of the year na and halos wala na makuhanan talaga. But what we cannot do, is to allow our people to suffer. No matter how hard this predicament the hospital is in, it will always be worth every ounce of effort para lang magawan ng paraan. Fortunately, may nahanap tayong pondo to provide help sa patients natin na umaasa sa Philhealth. Like I said many times, it is my commitment to go beyond my mandate as lawmaker to protect our kailyans,” Yap quipped.
Currently, the provincial government is the one providing the funds for the administration, maintenance and operation of the secondary hospital.
Yap is also seeking the re-nationalization of the BeGH so that its management and operation will be turned over to the health department to spare the provincial government from spending over P40 million annually for the hospital’s smooth operation and use this instead to implement other high impact development projects in the different towns.
