The poor people will be the first to benefit from President Duterte’s signing recently of the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law, which bars hospitals or any medical institution from mandatory demands of any deposit or advance payments for emergency cases of patients admitted for treatment in any hospital, Governor Lilia Pineda said.
The governor said that the signing of the new law is very appropriate especially in her home province where health is a top priority of the Provincial Government.
Under the law, medical institutions that violate the mandate will have to face the consequences of penalty increased from P20, 000 to P100, 000 and from P100, 000 to P300, 000.
Hospital directors or officers that require patients to give advance payments shall also be fined P500, 000 to P1-million. Under the old law, the fine for such offense is P10,000 to P500,000. Violators may also be slapped with imprisonment; while hospital or medical institutions that violate the law three times may lose their licenses to continue their operations.
Meanwhile, the Private Hospital Association of the Philippines (PHAP) blasted Pres. Duterte for approving the new law, stressing it is unconstitutional.
PHAP also threatened to ask the Supreme Court to block its implementation. — AIDA BUNGUE/PIO PAMPANGA