Soaring healthcare costs in the Philippines: are doctors fees to blame?
The Philippine government is exploring ways to cap doctors’ professional fees following public complaints about soaring hospital bills, a move that has drawn resistance from physicians who say they are being unfairly blamed for deeper failures in health financing. The Department of Health (DOH) said it was studying possible standards for doctors’ fees after patients…
The Department of Health (DOH) said it was studying possible standards for doctors’ fees after patients took to social media to report unexpectedly high out-of-pocket expenses. But doctors’ groups argue that the real culprit is inadequate insurance coverage and delayed reimbursements.
In December, DOH spokesman Albert Domingo said on a radio programme that the agency was considering reforms that could help set benchmarks for professional fees after receiving complaints about “excessive” charges.
Domingo said doctors in the Philippines currently had broad discretion to set their own fees, with no regulatory body overseeing pricing.
“In the world of healthcare, [professional fees] are a very sensitive issue as doctors set their fees,” he said. “But in other countries, doctors don’t set their fees; it’s usually the government or the governing medical association.”
If a doctor sets their fees, we have no choice but to follow that rate
He warned that the absence of regulation had allowed what some patients deem unreasonable fees, complicating the government’s ability to fully subsidise treatment through PhilHealth, the state-run health insurer.
