17 private hospitals in Central Luzon join PhilHealth’s No Balance Billing program

Seventeen private hospitals have agreed to participate in the government’s No Balance Billing (NBB) program, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) said.

The state insurer said the hospitals signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on 23 October in Pampanga, designating them as facilities where PhilHealth members can avail themselves of the NBB program.

All 17 private hospitals are located in Central Luzon, PhilHealth noted.

The hospitals are Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Medical Center Inc. in San Fernando City; Greencity Medical Center Inc. in San Fernando City; Holy Trinity Medical Center Inc. in Arayat; Mother Teresa of Calcutta Medical Center in San Fernando City; Pampanga Premier Medical Center Inc. in Apalit; Apalit Doctors’ Hospital Inc. in Apalit; ASCCOM Medical Center in Apalit; E.D. Lim Medical Center in Apalit; Leonardo B. Manabat Sr. in Sto. Tomas; Our Lady of Rosary Hospital in Macabebe; San Fernandino Hospital along McArthur Highway in San Fernando City; HTC Specialty Clinic and Diagnostic Laboratory in Sta. Ana; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Medical Center in Clark; Rosario Medical Center of Guagua Inc. in Guagua; Dr. Armando Garcia Medical Center in Angeles City; St. Paul II Medical Center Corp. in Magalang; and AC Sacred Heart Medical Center Inc. in Angeles City.

Present during the signing were Health Secretary Edwin Mercado, PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Beverly Lorraine Ho, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda, Vice Governor Dennis Pineda, and other officials from the Department of Health (DOH), PhilHealth, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the provincial government.

Under the NBB program, PhilHealth members and their dependents may avail themselves of benefits without paying for basic or ward accommodation in government hospitals. In private hospitals, the program covers 10 percent of basic or ward accommodation costs, the state insurer explained.

The NBB program is part of the DOH-PhilHealth Unified National Agenda (UNA), which aims to provide Filipinos with access to a wider range of health benefits.