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SP
proposes amendments to Blue Card health plan
Coop Hospital returns P150T
By:
KIT BAGAIPO
OPPUS |
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The
Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) joint committees looking
into lapses in the implementation of the city government's
Blue Card program is recommending amendments to the
free hospitalization ordinance.
Meanwhile,
the Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services
Cooperative (Coop Hospital) will return P154,593 to
the city government representing over-billed claims
charged on the Blue Card.
A
joint committee report of the SP committee on public
accountability and investigations (lead committee) and
committee on health and sanitation uncovered that certain
provisions of the Blue Card ordinance have not been
complied.
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Kag.
Anne Mariquit Derikito-Oppus, chair of the lead committee,
said in an interview that the recommended amendments will
be endorsed to the committee on health and sanitation and
to City Mayor Dan Lim for inclusion in the Implementing Rules
and Regulation (IRR) of the ordinance.
The
committee report cited operational lapses of the Blue Card
implementation such as the absence of a comprehensive IRR.
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The
joint committee recommended that the Blue Card office
be institutionalized, staffed by regular employees for
purposes of accountability.
Limits
on the coverage for Blue Card beneficiaries will also
be set to allow more indigents to avail of the program.
Instead
of limiting Blue Card recipients to families with a
total annual income of P40,000, the joint-committee
recommended that families with a total annual income
of P60,000 or less can qualify for the program.
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The
family income will be determined by the barangay captain and
the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
Qualified
applicants will be issued a Blue Card without any fee required,
the committee recommended.
During
extreme emergency cases, the beneficiaries shall notify the
Blue Card office, within 24 hour of his admission. However,
if the admission falls on a holiday, the patient or his representative
is required to notify the Blue Card office the day immediately
following the holiday.
The
committee report also recommended that a prescribed form be
adopted for Blue Card claims.
Partner
hospitals and the City Health Office are likewise required
to post in conspicuous places the procedure on how to avail
of the program.
An
ID will be issued with expiry date and list of accredited
hospitals.
Signatories
of the program is also recommended to be limited with specimen
signatures provided to partner hospitals.
Moreover,
a discharge summary is to be submitted together with the patient's
hospital bill.
Doctors
of the accredited hospitals will also be required to undergo
accreditation.
Each
beneficiary is limited to a maximum of P17,000 in hospital
expenses as recommended by the joint committee.
OVER-BILLED
CLAIMS
The
Coop Hospital board of directors has agreed to return P154,593
that was overcharged on the Blue Card program.
This
after the hospital board finally determined the padding of
at least five claims were made by some of their hospital personnel.
Coop
Hospital board chair Dr. Maria Grace Araneta assured in her
letter to the city mayor that "incorrect assessments"
on the Blue Card will be rectified.
The
hospital board is likewise asking for a dialogue with the
city mayor to iron out discrepancies on claims made against
the city's free hospitalization program.
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