by Alex Roldan
FEBRUARY and early March was the most turbulent month for our family when my diabetic wife was rushed every week to the hospital for renal failure.
The thought of hospital bills tormented me during the first emergency call. I have never experienced being admitted to a hospital or any member of my immediate family for decades, thus I have no idea how to react when the bills started to come in. I am not prepared for this, which is also my fault. But I was proven wrong, at least by one hospital.
My wife’s PhilHealth did an excellent job to ease those fears. And I really thank this institution for being always at the side of the patient. PhilHealth’s coverage gives back one’s dignity as a person. It bolstered my inner strength not to fear anymore in case any member of the family needed hospital treatment.
I wish to commend the Adventist Hospital not only for being very professional in dealing with patients, their courteousness to their clients, and also their transparency in preparing their hospital bills that every one dread. And the most comforting part of it is that every detail of PhilHealth’s coverage is immediately reflected even on the partial billing that gives you an idea of how much is left of your coverage thus giving you time to find ways to raise the balance – calling your relatives and friends for help.
But while I rated the Adventist hospital as excellent in terms of services, sadly, others are not.
We were advised by our doctor find help from other hospitals capable of giving immediate dialysis treatment before the window of opportunity closes for my wife who was already then under intensive care. We were informed ahead that it is not cheap, but we have to “bite the bullet” before it is too late, which I did, with the comforting thoughts that I have PhilHealth by my side.
But our initial experience with the former hospital was not the same with San Pedro Hospital who performed the immediate dialysis treatment of my wife. I trembled to receive the first partial billing less than 24 hours after my patient was admitted to the ICU. The bill reached more than P35,000, excluding professional fees. I was furnished with the tentative bill whose content is made up only with three columns – the particular charges and the debit and credit on the other side. Moreover, we were not allowed to transfer to a room after the first dialysis unless we paid half of the bill. This despite having already paid a substantial amount during her admission. If we do not pay, my patient stays at the ICU that charges more than P15,000, forcing me to seek help as my resources have a been depleted after 3 weeks of previous hospitalization. Luckily I was able to raise the amount.
But my fear did not diminish. We were not allowed to charge medicine from their pharmacy. We have to pay in cash! Aside from their horribly expensive medicines, the doctors prescribed drugs that are not only costly but also hard to find. For example, a medicine called Cefotaxim which in the prescription receipt the brand Loc-xim was enclosed in parenthesis is not available in the hospital’s pharmacy. My son scoured the downtown area to find one, but failed. The doctor eventually agreed that we buy a generic one, as it was already badly needed. I bought the generic Cefotaxime at P50 per vial at the nearby Amesco Drugs. The pharmacist at first hesitated to give me the generic because the receipt contained the name of the brand. I have to go back to the hospital to ask the nurse to erase the brand name.
But the following day, another prescription bearing the brand name of Cefotaxim again appeared. My son who served as my runner tried to find the medicine, this time he was lucky to find it near the Southern Philippines Medical Center. At last, he found the brand specified by the doctor, but at P800 per vial! Of course, my natural reaction is to insist on the generics.
Another example is their 30% surcharge if the medical process is done after 10 pm, Holidays and weekends. One hemodialysis process was made for my wife on a Saturday and in the charge slip it says that it cost us P3,502.29 plus 30% surcharge. I refuse to believe it at first, but the figure is clear. The 30% added as surcharge is P1,500! Where the hell did they learn their arithmetic? The nasty thing is that they insisted on their computation, and to resolve our complaint, they simply crossed the 30% print on the slip because according to them that is their standard surcharge fees. Whew!
The final billing was the most horrifying. Unlike the billing of the other hospital whose PhilHealth coverage reached almost 45% of the total bill and is more detailed, SPH bill is too cluttered, full of cost summaries, and worst, the PhilHealth coverage is not even enough to pay for the doctors’ professional fees! It was such an experience, but I still thank them for saving my wife.
Let me thank everyone, my friends, my wife’s office mates, my relatives, and PhilHealth for being with us when I needed them most. You are our angels.
For comments, email to: roldanalex@yahoo.com
