Ibinahagi ni Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez ang katiting na porsyentong nasaklaw ng Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) sa kaniyang hospital bill na halos umabot ₱7 milyon.
Sa pagpapatuloy ng oral argument na naglalayong pigilan ang paglilipat ng sobrang pondo ng PhilHealth patungong natioanal treasury noong Huwebes, Abril 3, sinabi ni Lopez na mas mababa pa umano sa 2% ang nasakop ng PhilHealth sa kaniyang hospital bill noong magkaroon siya ng esophageal cancer.
"Two years ago, I was treated for esophageal cancer, which went into my lungs and I had to be confined for more than two months in one hospital in Metro Manila,” lahad ni Lopez.
Dagdag pa niya, "If I recall it correctly, my bill runs up to almost P7 million."
Kasunod nito, pinahulaan ni Lopez sa isa sa mga counsel ng petitioner na si Atty. Paula Mae Tanquieng kung ilang porsyento ang na-cover ng PhilHealth sa binayaran niyang bill.
Lolang maghahatid sana ng apo, patay sa aksidente!
“I am pretty sure, your honor, it is not more than 10%,” sagot ni Tanquieng.
Ngunit ayon kay Lopez, “Definitely, much lower than 10%. It's only ₱50,000. I don't know how to compute it but I'm sure it's less than 2%.”
“But the problem doesn’t end there,” pagpapatuloy niya, “I had to do some regular procedure after operation, they call it dilation. They have to expand my throat and my esophagus. And every time I had to do that procedure I have to spent more or less around ₱40,000.”
Dagdag pa ng associate justice, “Again, I went to see PhilHealth, personally. I asked how much can be covered by PhilHealth and PhilHealth told me, I've run out of money. They cannot answer any of the P40,000, despite the fact that I've been regularly paying PhilHealth.”
Samantala, ayon kay PhilHealth Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco Jr., binabalak na umano ng naturang korporasyon na pataasin sa 18% ang coverage ng hospital bill ngayong taon.
