hospital corporatization will result to 100-200% increase in hospital fee -Ilagan

“Members of Congress should realize that corporatization has dire, life-threatening implications for their ailing constituents and that it will result to the inaccessibility of healthcare services for poor Filipino families. Corporatization and the Aquino government’s Public-Private Partnership inevitably result to higher hospital fees.”

Thus said Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luz Ilagan today as she warned colleagues against pushing for the corporatization of 26 government hospitals in HB 6069. Ilagan joined health workers in a picket in front of the House of Representatives today.

The Gabriela solon compared laboratory charges between government hospitals noting that corporatized government hospitals charge more for their services because they do not receive ample assistance from the national government. The Philippine Heart Center (PHC) and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) charge as much as P415 to P430 for a chest x-ray while the Jose Reyes Medical Center and the Rizal Medical Center, both of which are among the 26 hospitals being targeted for corporatization charge only P290 to P310 for the same.

A transvaginal ultrasound which many women require especially in the course of their pregnancy costs only P750 at the Jose Reyes Medical Center. The NKTI and the PHC charge P1650 and P1800 for the same ultrasound examination respectively.

Following the recent budget cuts in healthcare, the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital has implemented a 100% increase in their x-ray and laboratory fees. Meanwhile the Philippine General Hospital now charges Class D indigent patients for x-ray and laboratory fees when these were previously given free of charge.

“With the worsening poverty, unemployment and increasing cost of basic commodities, healthcare has taken a backseat in the spending priority for many women and their families. HB 6069 will institutionalize the Aquino government’s abandonment of healthcare and make an unhealthy situation even more critical.” #