News
PhilHealth pays P461M for health claims of OFWs - March 03, 2006
THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently
announced that it has paid P461 million for the health insurance
benefit claims of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their
families as of December-end 2005.
Lorna O. Fajardo, Officer-in-charge of the Office of the PhilHealth
President and CEO said that P258 million or 56 percent of this
amount represents PhilHealth’s payments for 35,158 claims
for in-patient and out-patient benefits that it inherited from
the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in March
last year.
She added that P203 million or 44 percent of total benefit payments
were for about 29,363 claims for in-patient and out-patient
benefits it received directly from OFWs from March to December
last year. Total current claims received reached 40,215, for
which 73 percent had already been paid for.
"When we started handling the Medicare program for
OFWs and their families, we did not exactly begin with zero
number of claims. In fact, we inherited 48,964 claims from the
OWWA, 72 percent of which have already been paid for before
2005 ended," Fajardo emphasized. She added that some
9,826 or 20 percent of these were returned to hospitals for
various reasons while 2,038 or four percent were denied. "We
had to introduce measures to ensure that we would be able to
immediately settle these claims for the benefit of our OFW-members,"
Fajardo said. These measures included hiring additional personnel
to beef up its current workforce, specially where claims processing
is concerned.
About 1,942 more of the OWWA-inherited claims are being processed
as of press time. "We would like to assure our OFW-members
and their kins that we are doing our best torespond to their
needs," she said. "After all, it is our mandate
to see to it that social health insurance is working to their
advantage," Fajardo stressed.
With the turnover of the Medicare program for OFWs and their
kins, PhilHealth ensured that no diminution nor discontinuity
of existing benefit packages will ensue.
Land-based OFWs are covered by PhilHealth through the OWP. Sea-based
OFWs, meanwhile, are covered under the Employed Sector Program.
Both types of OFWs may file for reimbursement of their hospitalization
expenses with PhilHealth even if they are confined overseas.
At the same time, their legal dependents in the country may
avail themselves of PhilHealth benefits through any of the 1,564
accredited hospitals in the country.