Republic Act 10932, the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law, and RA 11223, the Universal Health Care Law, are subjects imbued with national interest and last week, for the fourth time, we called the attention of Health Secretary Teddy Herbosa and Sen. Bong Go.

As we went to press, we got a response from the Health chief himself and we’d like to express our appreciation to him.

Since hospital owners with impunity continue to demand deposits from incoming patients, I have been repetitive, persistent, and impatient in demanding that no such imposition be made, whether emergency cases or not.

Secretary Ted reacted and we cite this in toto: “In the Philippines, it is illegal for hospitals and medical clinics to demand deposits or advance payment as a prerequisite for administering emergency care or for patient confinement or treatment, especially in emergency or serious cases. This is according to Republic Act 10932, also known as the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law.

“Hospitals cannot refuse treatment or demand deposits before providing basic emergency care or confinement/treatment. Violations of this law can result in imprisonment (six months and one day to two years and four months) and/or fines (P100,000 to P300,000),” Herbosa said.

There’s a higher penalty for directors and officers of a hospital. “If directors or officers of the hospital are responsible for policies that violate the law, they can face imprisonment (four to six years) and/or fines (P500,000 to P1,000,000),” he added.

Meanwhile, the Secretary stressed, “The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is mandated to provide medical assistance for basic emergency care to the poor and marginalized.”

He explained that an emergency is “a condition where a person needs immediate medical attention due to an unforeseen illness, injury, or accident. A serious case is a grave condition that, if left unattended, may lead to death, permanent disability or, in the case of pregnant women, permanent injury or the loss of the unborn child.”

While hospitals cannot demand deposits for emergency care, they can still require them for non-emergency situations and for the duration of a patient’s stay. That’s the brutally sad fact that the law is imperfect, biased for and protective of the hospital owners’ interest rather than the 10.3-million members of PhilHealth and even non-members. People should and must be attended to and cared for without exception as the government claims they will.

The Health Secretary emphasized that the law also prohibits hospitals from detaining patients who have been treated or who have died for the non-payment of bills. The provision is so good but that is not happening in the real Philippine world. Hospitals do otherwise. Again, there is impunity in the violation of the law.

The Ace Hospital case in Valenzuela City reached Secretary Ted and the hospital was forced to follow the law.

On the anti-hospital deposit law, we maintain our stand that there must be no exemption and that, emergency or not, no deposit must be required from incoming patients. The law must be amended.