More than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic wrought havoc in the country, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation still owes private hospitals more than P10 billion in unpaid claims, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc said Sunday.

In an interview with Daily Tribune, PHAPi president Jose Rene de Grano said the state insurer only managed to pay private hospitals half of the P25 billion worth of unpaid claims across 700 private hospitals in the country.

"Out of P25 billion worth of unpaid claims, they said they have already paid at least P12.5 billion of it," De Grano said.

"It is not easy to reconcile (the total amount)because there are many private hospitals in the country but a lot of hospitals are claiming that they still have huge receivables from PhilHealth," he added.

PhilHealth could not be reached for comment.

De Grano said private hospitals are expecting that the state insurer will continue paying the rest of the unpaid claims by next year.

"Of course, we are expecting that they will pay us. We will not stop that it is only like that. As long as they are slowly paying us and hospitals can continue with their operations, we will continue with our accreditation," he said, referring to the group's non-renewal of accreditation with PhilHealth.

Last year, the group issued a warning to the government that it may sever ties with PhilHealth if the state insurer will deny its reimbursement claims.

The move also prompted a congressional inquiry into the unpaid benefit claims of PhilHealth to healthcare facilities in the country.

Despite the alleged slow reimbursement of unsettled claims, De Grano assured the public of the continuous service of private hospitals.

"We are also thinking about the interest of PhilHealth beneficiaries. We are balancing it, too. If we stop with our accreditation, the beneficiaries will suffer, too," he said.

He added: "If the time comes that they would stop the reimbursement and the claims ballooned again, then that is the time that we have to wake them up again."

De Grano expressed hope that the state insurer, under the leadership of newly-appointed PhilHealth acting president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., will resolve the issue of unsettled claims.

"Hopefully the new administration will realize the role of private hospitals. We hope that they are not that very strict with payment," he said.

"We are advancing these benefits. We deserve to be paid for the services we provide to beneficiaries," he added.

'Premium hike'

Citing the impending premium hike by next year, De Grano said the state insurer no longer has reasons to delay its payment for its unpaid claims to private hospitals.

"On our side, they already raised the premium. That it is too big, there should be no reason for them not to pay us," he said.

Earlier, PhilHealth Senior Manager Rey Balena announced the premium adjustment by next year as part of the gradual adjustments based on the Universal Health Care Act of 2019.

Based on the Universal Health Care Act, the state insurer will be implementing a 4.5 percent increase from the current 4 percent monthly contribution.

Under the law, the rates are scheduled to increase from 2.75 percent in 2019 to 5 percent in 2025.

This year, PhilHealth implemented the four percent increase in monthly premium contributions, which has been delayed for the past two years due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.