PhilHealth is one of the financial “rob-out” use by our government to fleech money from its members.

With millions of pesos coming daily to the account of PHILHEALTH could well afford to build a first class hospital with all the facilities intact.

It can afford to modernize that hospital comparable to Saint Lukes and Capitol Hospitals if it wants too.

Not only that, it can built a modern hospital one building each month.

The complaint of Ronald Balanay, Eagan, Minnesota, via e-mail; unless there is a hoax going on in the PhilHealth, it is next to impossible not to get the current status of contribution by members.

We are in Computer age, and the this gadget can instantly give what ever information you want.

A computer cannot go wrong unless it is given a false information.

The disqualification of a bonafiled member who is up-to-date with his dues should file moral, criminal, and administrative charges against the head of PHILHEALTH on command responsibility, as well as the one who received the payment, for misdemeanor and corruption.

Corruption and inefficiency is widespread in our government. Also, these corrupt and inefficient government is prone to engages on a culture of denial once they are proven of wrong doing.

yeah, to all the bonafide members should come together and file moral, criminal, and administrative charges against the head of PHILHEALTH on command responsibility. so much for the corruption. its time to kill the bureucracy in the system.

Philhealth is really a mess! The Arroyo regime should check this area . Most of our OFW kabayan’s are paying their obligaton to ensure that all of their love ones can benefits during the crisis and lessen some of burdens on health.

Philhealth is one of the milking cow of Arroyo regime….. Check this out pls.

Being an OFW myself, I feel disgusted that the Philhealth is remiss in rendering their services to bonafide members. I may add that this is not an isolated case but rather represents significant numbers of unreported shortcomings of Philhealth.

A white elephant good only for accummulating and receiving payments from its contributors / members without ensuring that their services are properly addressed to the beneficiaries of the contributors.

I sympathize with Mr. Balanay’s ordeal at the alleged inefficiency of PhilHealth in carrying out its functions in handling benefits and claims by its members and their beneficiaries. An issue like this one resonates instantaneously and vastly amongst OFW’s around the world. Because of the rampant graft and corruption in all sectors and levels of governance in our country, we are prone to jumping to his side and mock the system for failing us time and again.

I suggest that we think for one moment before we do so this time.

We have heard Mr. Balanay’s side of the story. Yet, we have not heard that of PhilHealth’s and what exactly transpired. Perhaps, we will never hear the latter’s story for it is rather convenient to badmouth a system tainted with corruption and inefficiencies rather than look closely and understand the process that had placed Mr. Balanay’s at this predicament; and eventually introduce a fix that could deter the happening of the same scenario in the future.

I find it impossible to believe that the system would find Mr. Balanay’s coverage to be ‘Inactive’ having processed his paperwork at the central processing office (not at a satellite or regional office). For I am confident that the moment you walk out of that building in Ortigas with an Official Receipt and Certificate of Eligibility in hand; the system has already updated the member’s coverage and will only regress to ‘Inactive’ when the coverage lapsed and renewal was not sought. If his certificate and receipt positively scream of him having coverage and the system insists otherwise; then, I would call it a system-glitch calling for an immediate fix. Having said so, Mr. Balanay should befittingly be afforded leniency by the Agency, in regard to the claim and should not be refused benefits based on failure to meet the time frame set forth by the contract.

I am still a huge believer in the program for it has helped me and my father a great deal since I became a member in 1997. Since 1998 my father has been going back and forth at the hospital and the frequency seems to be increasing lately at a rate of every six to eight weeks requiring a stay of at least two to three days each time. His most recent visit was just three weeks ago and thank God, I have PhilHealth to help me with the bills. The amount of money I paid to PhilHealth over the years dramatically pale in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of pesos that PhilHealth paid towards my father’s hospitalization. It is the best investment I have placed over the health of my father and the rate of return is hundred times rolled over. Their office in Kalibo, Aklan has always been very accommodating and helpful in resolving problems that may arise with renewing my coverage and never had a problem with refusal to grant benefits. If anyone in that area has a problem with their PhilHealth, I suggest that they talk to a staffer named Winnie for not only is she quick at offering resolve but is also very patient and understanding over the phone. I scold my sibling every time they fail to pay my Annual Due on time. As the sole breadwinner in my family, I know exactly the kind of help it gives me each time.

Inasmuch as Mr. Balanay’s ordeal strikes my chord of sympathy, he likewise has displeased me with his name calling suggesting that a name change from PhilHealth to FeelHell is appropriate. Such comment shows an immature means of tackling a problem and I am sure that there are a huge number of PhilHealth members who would share my mixed feeling of sympathy and resentments most especially from those who have benefited greatly from the program. He mentioned about his mother’s hospitalization again during the New Year and then seven days, later and again I sympathize for him and his mother. Now that his coverage is in full effect, I am sure that he appreciated the value of this great program more than he did the first time. So rather than suggest a name calling, why not concentrate on working amicably with the Agency on resolving what has brought him to this website to begin with. In case we forgot, the program is founded on the welfare and benefit of its members. After all that is said and done, the Agency will still uphold its mission.

Mr. Bolanay currently resides in America. I am sure he knows as much as I do, that even Agencies in a great country like America, is similarly capable of committing such a mistake; whether man-made or computer system generated.

philhealth is just another part of the statistic and socialistic agenda of the govt and the socialists and statists, philhealth should be abolished totally and completely. let the private sector handle healthcare, as it can do so much more effectively and efficiently, govt controlled healthcare is inefficiency and wastfullness at its worse.

As if you were born only today. Please understand that all segments of the government are not to be trusted outright. These are alleged breeders of potential pests. And they have the loopholes of the laws behind them.

am a doctor in a big government hospital. guess what? in 2008, only 10% of my philhealth claims were paid, same goes with the other doctors. they kept on denying our claims even though our hospital had no records of anomalous phic claims. we are suffering already. MAYBE ELECTION IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER AND ANY INTEREST IN PHIC FUNDS CAN HELP THEIR CANDIDATES WIN IN 2010.

Philhealth is just an income generator for the government, the service is so disgusting and the only thing they want is the money coming from its members. They are just friendly and good when it comes to payment and contribution from members but by the time you need them (PHILHEALTH) it will take a century before they respond to your needs.

With so much income, Philhealth can built a huge modern Hospital each month.

But with half-bake and half-wit management, the people who operates this agency has norrow minded idea that can only go as far as their nose.

With so much collection, each province could have been the beneficiary of an ultra-modern Hospital.

In fact, sad to say, the private health insurance like CARITA has out perform these government entity.

Subscribers of CARITAS gets a thorough executive check up each year free! And after paying the amount in five years, the member gets another five years health coverage without further payment.

otherwise, after five years free coverage, he can decide to collect twice the amount of his contribution.

Philhealth is nothing but another scum to fleech its members just like the funds of Coconut Federation of the Philippines, and even the SSS AND GSIS which is in danger of going insolvent because of the unreasonable meddling of our government.

I have experienced the same thing with philhealth. I’m trying to have my father hospital bills re-computed because it came to almost two hundred thousand pesos and they send us a refund of seven thousand pesos. I ask them about how to compute the bills and they replied but when i ask them about a re-computation they did not reply. It’s my privilege to have a re-computation if i ask them. I hope somebody can checked this out for the sake of all the philhealth members that are willing to pay every year just to have a decent health care.

That’s always been a problem in dealing with Philippine institutions, it may be a government or private. They will always give you a hardtime claiming what belongs to yours until you finally give up.
My dad passed away in 2005 and my mom is suppose to be entitled for a 500k in life insurance claim. She went back and forth to this insurance office for almost a year to follow up her check. Then one day they just gave her 20thou check and told her, ” buti ka pa nga may 20thousand pa, yung iba nga wala”…. Same thing with my life insurance company, i’ve paid-off my 5 years payment plan and on 10 years waiting. But sad to say, they closed business. That day, the world doomed on me. They ripped me off and the rest of their customers. Until now, nobody even bothers to give us justice.
Since then, i swear to my father’s grave, i will never DEPEND on a Filipino run company/agency for my welfare.
YOU’D RATHER SAVE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, IT’S 100% DEPENDABLE.

Thanks everyone for the reaction.

Although I recognized the fact that my suggestion would offend somebody, I still would like to express my apology to Mr. Jun Ureta for any displeasure I may have caused. Mr. Ureta, you are fortunate to have been financially assisted by PhilHealth over the years.

However, I don’t believe my case is an isolated one. There has never been an instance in all my previous visits to their office in POEA Ortigas that I have not heard an OFW ranting at one of their windows due to poor service. And yes, they should have treated my two previous claims with leniency because the fault has been with them anyway. My sister professionally dealt with this Agency but was recently told that the signer/approver was on leave and that she should call them back next month. Maybe, they are waiting for the anniversary of my mom’s hospitalization…maybe, they have another reason.

And lastly, yes US government agencies are not that perfect either. They also commit mistakes here. The only difference is that they won’t take 11 months or so to rectify the situation.

I’m also a OFW working here in Malaysia. Two years ago my baby was born here thru CS in KL and I was able to claim some of the amount from Philhealth. I received the cheques by mail after 2/3 months of filing the forms in Philhealth (Pasig.)

The one who has the best documentation will win. Having lived abroad, one learns that things do not always turn out the way they should. Therefore always keep all you receipts, etc…
Paper trail is the best solution to Balanay’s situation.
Had he had all his cancelled checks and receipts, emails, etc. Then its just a matter of presenting the items to the company, and it should not be a problem. Good luck and enjoy the rest of the day.

PHILHEALTH should not be mandatory for OFW. Aside from being useless, Let an OFW like me choose what ever private medical insurance i trust and believe in.

I had a operation on my knee almost 6 years ago. Phil health paid some of my hospital bills. I did not encounter any problems with Philhealth so far. Problems in claiming for benefits usually comes when Philhealth doesn’t receive its contributions on time. Its a good idea to settle all late contributions before claiming benefits.

I had the same case with Mr. Balanay. Since I work in Manila and my mother’s hospital confinement is in Bacolod, I have to course it through some relatives who can monitor the reimbursement. My request for reimbursement was denied because the hospital’s Philhealth staff who filled up the form missed some required data. My first reimbursement was approved though after a thorough follow up.

I feel so helpless. Anyone from Philhealth who can address this?

I

It’s part of the Arroyo regime… That’s why…

I have experienced same case with POEA they are just good in collection of dues but zero in accepting claims from member they have to much excuses till your claim will not be accepted and not to be paid.
This is the way Philippine Government Officials are doing for their OFW’s who according to them are supposed to be the heroes of the nation.
Until when Officials will change and wake up.

If payment on PhilHealth is not Compulsory when going abroad, I am 100% sure.. nobody will pay. Why Philhealth exsists anyway??

i agree with wolfkiller that philhealth should be abolished and let the private sector run the same. the agency in cohorts with the various hospitals/doctors are killing the members’s contributions thru overpricing.

My mom was hospitalized in one of the private hospitals. She already passed away after a month of stay in the ward and ICU. Not a single cent came out of “Feel Hell”!!!

With due respect, I believe that the issue is not corruption nor ineptitude but more of a bureaucratic pitfall. People in big agencies usually do not use common sense but simply follow what is prescribed.

I am not working for Philhealth but I have seen the hundreds of poor folks helped by the program. In this regard, if you would allow me, to facilitate and assist you in your problem? I have a friend who works at Philhealth and I am sure that they would be more than happy to assist their contributing members.

Is this your real name? Your Philhealth number please? And when did you file your appeals. Usually, PHIC responds to formal requests and send their reply to your offical residence in the Philippines.

I am making this offer in order to assist our modern heroes and nothing else.

Philhealth as “socialistic” I think is a mis statement. Health service in true Socialism would be bringing one’s patient to a health center and thats it.

Philhealth as one social amenity, Yes, perhaps. I think Philhealth is a cheap copy of the U.S system. People bring their patient to health center of their choice, Insurance or State to pick up the bills.

Talking about Philippine health system this is interesting … Imelda Marcos was hated by many but in fairness, we had Heart Center, Lung Center, Ospital ng Kabataan ng lungsod ng Maynila, to mention some, added to PGH, East Ave Med, San Lazaro, during her time.

But we could not call those intitutions socialism. I remember I brought my children in any of them. I had to apply with MSSD so a P8,000.00 bill for example netted me P800.00 [P7,200.00 subsidized by government] Medicines were not available so I had to buy them out of my own pocket, from drugstores. I guess some people had settled their bills in whole when they did not qualify with MSSD assistance. Just like any private hospital…Not free but subsidy for indigents.

Now after “privatization” I guess you have to knock the offices of congress or city hall to beg for assistance of politicians if you happen to be indigent and without insurance.

I do have the same sentiments with this Philhealth matter, as a matter of fact, I do feel that this is part of the syndicated system inside OWWA/POEA.

I’d been working abroad almost a 10 years and the system being introduced to OFWs everytime they secure the OEC became worst from year to year.

Maybe I would share to you some of my observation inside OWWA and hopefully you may share your experiences too.

My observation on Philhealth:
1) During the early years, Philhealth usually provide some sort of a Ceritificate where all dependents covered by the insurance were declared. This certificate are used everytime medical visit are conducted, to certify that the dependents are active. After a couple of years, Philhealth took out this certifcation and requires members to present the receipt of payment. Also, they even committed that these documents will posted to your home address after payment took place at the OWWA office. The latter method seems to be interesting but there were a catch on this system. Philhealth do post the certificate with all your dependents name, however you only manage to received this one month before the expiration date….smart right.

Second observation, is that I tried to ask my spouse to register as dependent for Philhealth medical program under the GSIS. My spouse used to work in the government previously. When I tried to secure my OEC, people from Philhealth-OWWA disallow my application and required me to pay the new Philhealth insurance under OWWA. This is really strange. The purpose of getting this medical insurance is to ensure your family in Phils will be medically secured in case bad things happen. But it does not make any sense to get two insurance policy with the same company since one one policy can only be claim…..

Anyway, for me the P1,000 will not matter as I can afford this, however there are really something wrong with the system, and I believed people are benefitting from it….

I did term the OWWA-POEA system as “SYNDICATED SYSTEM” as this institution are created to benefit a few from the hardwork and sweat of other Filipinos working overseas….

Mga kababayan ko - mapalokal or mapaabroad… naninibago pa ba naman kayo sa mga kalakaran ng mga government agency or offices natin?

magsabi nga kayo ng ilang halimbawa na nakaranas tayong mga simpleng mamamayan ng konting kaginhawaan na habang nag papaprocess ng mga pangangailangan natin sa mga hina$#@?!k… na mga taong yan…

Di ba nila alam na tayo ang nag papasweldo o nag papalamon sa kanila at sa mga pamilya nila? tayong mga nasa pribado…partikular tayong mga OFW…

Kung iisipin mo maraming pwedeng gawin para mapaglingkuran tayo ng maiigi…but ni wala man lamang silang maisip o talagang walang iniisip para mapaganda at maginhawaan man lamang yung mga taong nag aaply ng kung ano ano man sa bawat ahensya na ito…

tulad na lamang sa poea… yung mga nakapila ay nag tyatyaga na di muna kumain para lamang di mawala yung pila nila, pero yung mga mababait na empleyado sa loob ng poea ay nag papakita pa na kumakain sila at nag chichikahan… pwede naman sigurong mag laan sila ng mga empleyado na nag aasikaso para lamang maging deretso ang kanilang serbisyo publiko kuno…

Haaayyy!!!… ewan ko nga ba… talagang mga taga gobyerno nga naman… di pa mag kanda ubos yang mga yan at palitan na lahat, kaya naman yan ng mga bagong graduate lang…diba???…

I don’t have data right now. But, where I live in Payatas, if we take three families in front of my house, another three behind, and three in each side, we would have 9 families including mine. And, only one (1) has Philhealth. For the purpose of discussion:

So, Philhealth promotes the interest of I / 9th at the expense of all 9 families, so to say. The program is State initiated. That being the case it can safely be assumed that Philhealth has access to assets, ways, and means belonging to or owned by Juan dela Cruz. It rides on the whole Filipino people.

The program is one component of “privatization”. The concept is for all hospitals, health institutions, to be run privately, and [State] Insurance like Philhealth, to guarantee payment due hospital services. Philhealth is a hybrid program that, as we can see presently, is also SECTARIAN. It serves the interest of that 1 over 9 and guarantees the interest of (private) hospitals as far as that 1/9th is concerned. Philhealth is fart from being “Socialistic”. Hindi kasali ang walo sa siyam.

[And thanks to the heroic opposition of public health workers, everything under the DOH would have been “privatized” since the FVR Administration.]

If we cannot make Philhealth a 100% membership of the entire Filipino people, I think the old hybrid health program conceived by our great forefathers, is very much better. Fewer reported rackets, too!

abolish philhealth? .. maawa naman kayo sa mga hindi ofw .. I know a tindera at hindi kailan man nagiging ofw dahil walang pera itustos sa mga gastusin para lang maka-abroad pero consistent sa philhealth contribution na mimimum P100 per month .. and alam niyo her family benefited from it .. I for one benefited from it not just once but four times already .. saved my family more than P20,000 in hospital bills .. but I agree there are irregularities in the agency .. but as long as I have a valid receipt for all my contribution which are also sequential hindi laktaw-laktaw I have a say that I should benefit from philhealth ..

maybe it is time for us to make sure that all the payments in philhealth are paid and the documents are properly indorse to philhealth i dont think we can not get refunds or use the philhealth .
and maybe it is time for us to read the regulations first.

Tayong mga OFW ay palabigasan ng gov’t, kayang utuin dahil no choice but to be extorted by OWWA & Philhealth so we could work abroad. Nothing new: inii-scam tayo ng OWWA, now Philhealth naman. Scams are everywhere in the gov’t anyway.

Make OWWA & Philhealth memberships voluntary, not compulsary, to OFW’s!

Oops, I did it again! Something by me behind us, should have read “Philhealth is FAR from being…”…I think I need a second or better still a third, proof reader every time I work.

Since we are talking about health of Filipinos, has anyone wondered why there are Filipinos walking around with missing parts like eye and kidney? Filipinos exchanged them for cash. There was a case when one of them ran amok because he was not taken as “donor”. And, can you imagine how it was to a poor Filipino who didn’t even know where to get his next meal, and when he was facing hospital bills running to P600, 000.00 and more?

Haay… I wish there will be a day when Filipinos can sleep well whether it is P600.00 or 600 K-Php hospital bill they are facing - all, for no problem to them, yeah… Sinesuwerte sila? [Then one can get himself a heart or a kidney problem, too, to get his share!]

Lastly, I think DOH Chief Duque is one of the best men there is in the bureaucracy, though he is faced by tremendous limitations. Just an impression of course.

@RLTJ,

Hi! I’d like to comment on that. I am a PhilHealth employee and I have been with the Indigent Program Group from 1998-2002. I am still in the frontline service in one of our Service Offices in Cebu.

As a government corporation (no, we are not privatized), we are focused on getting the indigents, the truly poor, covered, but according to the law, we are DEPENDENT on the approval of the local government unit. Since they have fiscal autonomy, we have to convince them and entice them to allocate funds to enroll their indigent constituents. We CANNOT compel them, and we cannot pre-deduct their IRA. We also court legislators to allocate funds for this, and even negotiate with private entities and corporations to serve as sponsors for the local government.

We want EVERYONE to get in, believe me. I have been personally involved in negotiating with local chief executives, legislators, and private foundations to get them to shoulder the premium for indigents - but I cannot force them to do so if they cite different priorities or lack of funds. There are some laudable examples compared to your 1:9 ratio.

In Bukidnon province for example, every single indigent household has been enrolled by the provincial government. Much of these has to do with political will, and a demonstration that they’re seeing that a need in health care is truly being addressed.
__________________

When you pay for years and never get sick, and therefore never get to use your PhilHealth - thank God for your good health. I pay P362.50/month as my mandatory contribution and never got hospitalized for the past 10 years. If you want to see where your money went, please visit a government hospital where indigent members are getting care because someone who is employed is paying for them. That’s why it’s called a social health insurance - the rich subsidize the poor; the healthy the sick, etc.

I’ve been working with PhilHealth since 1998. I’m still here because compared to other government institutions, I’ve seen results here - I have heard indigents in remote barangays, mayors, taxi drivers, employees - thanking us for being there. I have heard complaints as well, but rest assured, your complaints are not falling on deaf ears.

Siegfred C. Javelosa,

You can file an appeal through the nearest PhilHealth Service Office. Please do it ASAP.

On being a “milking cow:”

Nope, it does not happen. We do not remit to the national government. All premium payments are “with us” and are used for benefit payments and administrative cost. We do not ask for a budget from the national government and we keep our operational costs within the limits alloted by law.

By the way, yesterday, there were full page ads announcing that we increased inpatient benefits by about 35%.

[...] http://blogs.inquirer.net/voxpopuli/2009/02/20/wake-up-philhealth/ [...]

I have also been a VICTIM of Philhealth. I started contributing in 1982 when I was with PNOC. In 1983 to 1994, 11 years straight I was with the Department of Energy. Then intermittently from 1995 to 2006 I have been contributing that is to say I have about 270 months contributions!!!!! Then I went abroad last 2007. When I got back in 2008, I had an angioplasty in October (2008) and when I applied for Philhealth — of course I was inactive. Poor me.
So I reactivated again in November 2008. Sad no?

I was planning to get philhealth, or other health insurances, but after reading this………… never mind, i might as well save some of my money, scammers -_-

well, this is really a sad story to hear coming from Filipino citizen worker class. but it’s a sad fact as well that government services really sucks.have never got to enjoy any services from any government agency that i would say i am delighted to get — it’s always a disappointment. the government services is in dire need of someone who can operate it like a private entity who is always thinking along the line of Customer Satisfaction. this is wishful thinking!!!