Health Secretary Francisco Duque
MANILA – Secretary Francisco Duque, a senior member of the Arroyo Cabinet has assailed the plan of private hospital owners to increase their fees to make up for their alleged losses in the implementation of the cheaper medicines law.
Duque of the Department of Health was reacting to the announcement of Dr. Rustico Jimenez, the president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (Phap), that if they would not raise their fees, they would be forced to close down.
Jimenez claimed private hospitals are incurring heavy losses due the implementation of a law that reduces by 50 percent the prices of essential medicines that used to be beyond the reach especially of poor Filipino patients suffering from ailments like cancer, hypertension, asthma and diabetes.
Jimenez said they are now forced to sell their inventory of vital medicines at prices below their acquisition costs.
It was also Jimenez who also threatened that the Phap members would go on a “hospital holiday†if they are not exempted from the implementation of the law for at least six months.
He explained hospital holiday means they would not accept patients, except emergency cases, as a sign of their protest against the law.
Effective September 15, the law now covers hospitals and even drug stores and similar commercial outlets located in far-flung areas nationwide.
But Duque countered he found it incredible that hospitals would lose money to the point of bankruptcy due to losses from the implementation of the cheaper medicines law.
Duque reminded the hospital owners that, aside from their pharmacies, they have more than enough other “profit centers†which could make up for the losses they would incur from their sale of vital medicines at reduced prices.
As the former head of the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Duque said PhilHealth would reimburse hospitals their increased operating room fees, professional fees, laboratory fees as well as the board and lodging expenses of patients, among others.
He challenged the owners to show him their financial statements to prove the veracity of their claim as he stressed: “If you really want to stand by your claim, show me your financial statements. I am a health financier and I promise you I will go over your statements one by one.â€
Another Malacanang official, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita agreed with the stand of Duque, saying the plan of hospitals to raise their fees was counter productive.
Ermita pointed out that instead of thinking about their possible losses, the owners should also consider the welfare of the majority of their patients who are poor.
Besides, he said that big foreign pharmaceutical companies have agreed to give rebates in the bulk sale of their products to hospitals and drug stores.
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