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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has broken its silence following a wave of public outrage sparked by a grieving widow’s viral social media post.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday, June 14, PhilHealth said that it mobilized upon learning of the incident to “understand and address the situation.”
“We have since reached out to the member's wife and have agreed on the next steps as we explore all avenues of support,” PhilHealth’s statement read.
“We are likewise coordinating with the hospitals to understand the circumstances of the situation, as part of our sustained efforts to improve PhilHealth's responsiveness,” it added.
This stemmed from the viral Facebook post of Maria Lourdes Sulit, who detailed how her family was forced to watch her husband, Marvin, die of a brain hematoma because they could not afford millions of pesos for surgery, only to be denied PhilHealth benefits afterward because he died "too soon."
Died too soon
According to Sulit, the medical emergency began in the early morning hours of June 4, when her husband, Marvin, was rushed to Manila Doctors Hospital and admitted at around 5:59 a.m.
Her family was initially informed that emergency neurosurgery would cost approximately P4 million.
Realizing the family could not afford the staggering amount, Marvin's attending neurosurgeon advised them to transfer him to the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERM), where the surgical cost could be reduced by nearly P2 million.
Desperate to save his life, the family agreed to the transfer. However, before UERM could admit Marvin, the hospital required an immediate down payment of P1 million.
"We are an ordinary family living only hand-to-mouth," Sulit said.
"With time running out and no way to raise that amount immediately, we had no choice but to wait for Marvin to die. It was heartbreaking and devastating,” she added.
Marvin died at 12:29 a.m. on June 4—less than 19 hours after being admitted to the hospital.
24-hour predicament
According to Sulit, she went to the hospital’s billing section at 6 a.m., just hours after Marvin's body was brought to the morgue. In less than a day, the partial hospital charges had already accumulated to approximately P200,000.
Seeking to ease the financial burden, she approached PhilHealth to claim her husband’s benefits.
To her shock, PhilHealth representatives denied the claim, stating that Marvin was ineligible for benefits because he had been hospitalized for less than 24 hours.
“My husband had just died. How could he not be eligible?” Sulit said.
“I was only asking for the benefits that my husband spent more than 25 years contributing to. He was a lifelong member. He paid faithfully throughout his working years," she added.
The hospital denied him treatment because we could not immediately produce the required amount. Then, after his death, PhilHealth denied him benefits because he had been confined for less than 24 hours.”
Following the day of the death of her husband, Sulit said that it was her daughter’s graduation.
Sulit then called on PhilHealth and health authorities to immediately review and abolish the 24-hour confinement policy for cases resulting in death.
“PhilHealth, review and change this policy. We do not deserve this. It was so unfair. If a member died, he/she should be extended all the benefits a member deserves. This is our hard-earned money na kinukurak*** nyo lang," she said.
