P4B scammed by some doctors/hospitals from the Philhealth

[smooth]

Anyway, back to the topic...



It appears that there is a multifaceted problem affecting the country's health care sector.

On one hand you have a health insurance system that is vulnerable to abuse, but which is also slow (it takes three or more months for claims to be paid) in responding to legitimate claims from health care providers.

On the other hand, you have this brilliant new law authored by Sen. Villar (which is why I didn't vote for him) that makes it illegal for hospitals to detain patients who cannot settle their bills, without regard to how this will affect the cash flow of the private hospital. These hospitals do need to make money in order to keep treating patients, and maybe only 1 out of every 10 patients that issues a promissory note actually comes back to pay it.

In addition, you have the continuing exodus of skilled health care professionals for foreign lands, resulting in a lack of qualified personnel to take care of patients. Professionals who are leaving are not limited to doctors and nurses, but even medical technicians, radiology technicians, occupational and physical therapists, and many others involved in health care. For many, it simply isn't worth the effort and aggravation to stay in the Philippines.

So, how are we, as ordinary citizens, going to help in solving this crisis?

the problem is that many of our lawmakers are populist and they tend to turn something good into something bad just to get the vote of the biggest sector of our society. in the recent malpractice law brouhaha, one (fearless?) staff member of the bill's proponent went to our hospital/med school to discuss the bill. during the q&a portion, i told this guy how "amazing" it is that they are going to pass a bill without first consulting the medical profession, admittedly the biggest sector that will be affected by the passage of such a bill. in essence, they did not do due diligence and proper research. to this question he just looked at me and said, "we'll take your comment into consideration." ayos. ni-lo-lobby niyo na ang bill e hilaw pa pala.

what is my point? medical insurance is a good thing but the implementation is wrong. it definitely needs tweaking. re: abuses, i will agree that these exist and i am all for taking out the bad eggs. the problem lies in the "how-to" or rather in the implementation of the corrective measures. as in so many of the solutions our "leaders" have done, the solution they propose only serves to increase or intensify the problem. someone once said, "if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem." i can only hope that the solution they will enact will rectify the problems in Philhealth.

OT: to oldblue, my apologies for my outburst but i was genuinely surprised by your comments. i am an anesthesiologist and there has been countless times (more than i would care to count) that i had to rush to the hospital because of an emergency. then after the patient has been discharged all well and good, what i would get is a promissory note. my stack of promissory notes date back several years and mind you, less than 1% of these patients have returned to pay.

lastly, 13K a night? did that 13K a night include hospital bills and medications na? from your post you made it seem like the doctor billed you 13K a night. that is too much. however, i must say that in this country, it is wrong for a doctor to bill on top of the HMO's coverage. (however, this practice is allowed in the US.) you should have brought this matter with your HMO.

edit: i just re-read your post. your doctor's secretary called you asking you to pay on top of the HMO coverage. now, you really should have complained this to your HMO (and informed your doctor about it). maraming secretary kasi ang nang-ra-racket and nag-ch-charge sa patient without the doctor knowing. andami nang secretary ang nakasuhan ng estafa because of this. meron pa ngang mga sindikato na pumupunta mismo sa kwarto ng pasyente at nagpapanggap na secretary ng doctor at naniningil sa patient.

[uls]

Ya talk about medical malpractice suits... that will only drive up doctor's fees coz they are gonna get malpractice insurance...

Or if not, they will just stop practicing altogether. Great for a country with shortage of medical professionals...

Ito mga politicians kulang nalang gumawa ng bastas na lahat ng mahirap pde kumain sa jollibee ng libre

[oldblue]

pasensya na sa mga doctors kung nag-generalize man ako pero talaga ang hirap ibahin ang pagtingin ko sa kanila. napakahirap talaga noon feeling na nasa hospital ka tapos halos di ka man lang dalawin at looking for answers kung ano talaga kalagayan mo. pag dinalaw ka naman, tatawa tawa lang na parang walang nangyari ... buti pa ang mga nurse sarap kasama lalo na pag nag-iisa.

anyway, in case madami nagalit sa'kin dito, i'm requesting sir m2 to ban me for 5 days like mike01 . oks lang kasi nakasakit ako

[mazdamazda]

errr... i don't think that a ban is necessary... miscommunication lang naman.

[boybi]

anyway, in case madami nagalit sa'kin dito, i'm requesting sir m2 to ban me for 5 days like mike01 . oks lang kasi nakasakit ako

I-ba-ban ka kapag gumawa ka ng alternick like oldgreen, oldred, oldwhite......