BILL PROHIBITING DETENTION OF
POOR PATIENTS AWAITS ENACTMENT

Senate President Manny Villar expects that poor patients who fail to fully settle their hospital bill can no longer be detained therein, with the enactment of a law prohibiting the detention of patients in hospitals and medical clinics.

The measure entitled, An Act Prohibiting the Detention of Patients in Hospitals and Medical Clinics on Grounds of Nonpayment of Hospital Bills or Medical Expenses, is currently awaiting the signature of the President.

The Senate earlier concurred with the House version of this bill (House Bill No. 68), approving it on third and final reading last Feb. 19 which is now enrolled in the Office of the President for signing into law.

We understand the predicament of hospitals and we do not want them to incur undue losses, Villar said. However, detaining underprivileged patients violates basic human rights, deserving no place in our society, the reelectionist senator, who is running as independent and guest candidate of the Genuine Opposition, stressed.

Under the measure, (I)t shall be unlawful for any hospital or medical clinic in the country to detain or to otherwise cause, directly or indirectly, the detention of patients who have fully or partially recovered or have been adequately attended to or who may have died, for reasons of nonpayment in part or in full, of hospital bills or medical expenses.

It provides that patients who wish to leave the hospital but are financially incapable to settle, in part or in full, their hospitalization expenses, shall be allowed to leave the hospital with a right to demand the issuance of the corresponding medical certificate and other pertinent papers required for the said release upon the execution of a promissory note covering the unpaid obligation.

Villar pointed out that the required promissory note shall be secured by either a mortgage or by a guarantee of a co-maker, who will be jointly and severally liable with the patient for the unpaid obligation. In the case of a deceased patient, the corresponding death certificate and other documents required for interment shall be released to any of his surviving relatives.

The Senate President, however, stressed that patients who stayed in private rooms shall not be covered by the Act. The Department of Health shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of the Act.

The measure further provides that hospital officers and employees who violate the provisions of the Act shall be punished by a fine of not less than P20,000 but not more than P50,000, or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the proper court.

As a means of addressing the predicament of private hospitals on this measure, there are pending Senate bills that may be considered like Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.s proposal for the establishment of a private-hospital development plan that will grant them incentives whereby the proceeds from their payment of real property taxes shall accrue to their respective special private hospital fund.