hospital rules and promissory note

hi, i would like to ask for advice since right now, the hospital we are in is not accepting promissory note, which makes it harder for us to pay off the bill since we don't have enough money for a living and to at least sustain paying part of it to begin with.

we are currently asking for help from almost everyone in the government to help us but still we could not come up with the amount asap. is it legal for them not to accept promissory note and hold the patient until such time that 70% is paid off? is there anyway that we could discharge the patient, since we don't have any plans of not paying, we just cant pay it asap, and we want the charges to stop. please advice and help us.

thank you.

may i know if the patient is in a private room/ward?

you may read this law, however this does not apply to those in the private rooms.

http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno9439irr.html

she is on a semi - private ward. that's another thing, since the doctor did not advice fully that there was a big difference on charity ward and pay ward. he just advised that we have room that costs 800 (3 people) and 1000 (2 people), on which I chose 2 people ward to have at least some privacy. But we are not informed that there was a charity ward that would be eligible for financial and medical assistance.

i am talking about lung center hospital.

ruby1624 wrote:she is on a semi - private ward. that's another thing, since the doctor did not advice fully that there was a big difference on charity ward and pay ward. he just advised that we have room that costs 800 (3 people) and 1000 (2 people), on which I chose 2 people ward to have at least some privacy. But we are not informed that there was a charity ward that would be eligible for financial and medical assistance.

i am talking about lung center hospital.

I believe lung center is a government tertiary hospital.

The Implementing Rules and Regulations state:

To minimize, if not prevent, incidence of patients being unable to pay, and hospitals or medical clinics detaining patients for reason of nonpayment of hospital bills or medical expenses/ hospitalization expenses, patients and hospitals or medical clinics alike may institute and observe the following:

a) Government hospitals or medical clinics shall classify patients in terms of their capacity to pay according to the guidelines set by the DOH in Administrative Order No. 51-A s. 2000: Implementing Guidelines on Classification of Patients and on Availment of Medical Social Services in Government Hospitals, dated October 12, 2001.

If you think the doctors committed lapses in not informing you (unless you opted for a private ward), you can raise this issue.

I suggest you formally raise this issue in writing.

I emphatize with you because I was in the similar situation when my dad had cardiac arrest which costs us huge bills. I suggest you ask assistance with the PCSO. It will take a looong string of patience.

we asked assistance from PCSO, right now, they have given us P10,000 which is 1/5 of the current bill. the chief of billing talked to us almost everyday for the past few days and asked about how do we go about in paying the bill. we already explained to them that we are seeking help from LGUs and others that could provide assistance, then the Chief said (with her banging the mouse once in a while on her computer mouse pad), "why did you choose to be on the pay ward if you cannot afford to pay? your bill will only increase everyday and applying for PCSO will take a while... she even said, hindi naman sa pag - aano, bat naman kasi pinili nyo pa sa pay ward"

it has been a week that we felt humiliated and discriminated because we are not aware of the different types of rooms there and we just want our mom to get well. i don't understand that despite them being a government tertiary hospital, they seem to act like private hospitals. i really don't appreciate it, and even the doctor said that "o kamusta na, nakahanap na ba kayo, baka maya maging tagahugas na lang kayo dito sa baba" which i dont find encouraging.

where can i raise these kind of concerns and can you advice a legal way where we could just have a promissory note so that we could just get out of the hospital, because their acts is not reall helping on the recovery of our mom, she even felt the burden since we are having hard time looking for money, she quoted, "sana hindi nyo na lang ako pina-admit"... i feel heartbroken since i cannot do anything about it.

they even dont want to include the professional fee charge when we are asking for statement of account and they wont provide detailed list of medicines because the chief said we are on the pay ward, we dont need it?

the deameaning and unsolicited comments from a "government doctors" can be a subject of administrative case.

if a loved one badly needs a medical attention, human nature dictates that the best medications be provided where issue of expenses is temporarily set aside.

i find it so raging that doctors commented that "why chose to be in a payward"

what is disheartening is that your mother even uttered those sentiments.certainly, nobody wanted to be plunged into a financial dilemma if only for the health of a loved one.

i feel lost but since i am still looking for payment for the hospital, i don't know when can we survive the feeling of being harrassed.

thank you for your advice.

the doctor advised that the room is being wasted and not being used because we are still occupying the ward. is it right to say those kinds of words, to think that the bill is not stopping and it is accumulating at around 2thou everyday....

the doctor has the guts to have this kind of comment, given that his fee is 1,000 per day and the only thing he do is stay on the room for not more than 5 minutes. they are so disappointing.

pwede bo akong mag request ng sample promissory note para sa doctor, out patient lang po ung mother ko nag pa cataract surgery sya.

Hi,
I want to know what action we can take if the hospital refuses to release the patient just because we are unable to pay the full amount of the hospital bill? My mother was rushed to a private hospital on Dec. 3 because of Pneumonia due to Heart Failure, until now she's still in the hospital despite the discharge order from the doctors on Dec. 9. Because of Pneumonia, we were advised that my mother should be in a private room to prevent contagious diseases from worsening her condition. Once the pulmonologist told us that her lungs are clear, we asked the admission dept. of that hospital to be transferred to a semi private or ward, this is to lessen the bill. Until now my mother is still in the private room nad they still claim that there is no available room for her.
Anyway, the hospital bill went so high because of the procedure (angiogram) done by the cardiologist to determine the condition of the heart. That was the largest bulk of the hospital bill.
We went back and forth, asking for help from LGUs and people we know just to lend us money so we can pay the bills.
We went in and out of the credits and collections department of the hospital and we have talked to different representatives, they gave us different answers and options but it all boils down to the "best" solution which is to pay them in full and in cold cash.
My sister is following it up with PCSO and I know it will take a long time but by the time we get a guarantee, the bill will be so high that even working our *sses off for a long time won't cover the payment.

there is no clear legal remedy, but i know of one instance where the patients left a promissory note then walked out along with her 'bgy'. they moved quickly before security could take action.

I see. So where can we raise this type of issue?
We don't want to break out our mother from the hospital just like what happened in that incident.

you can have a letter written by a letter to demand that she be let out. or threaten the hospital that you will charge them with illegal detention.

Same story po sa akin, my mom was diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis and was hospitalized for 3 weeks sa FEU NRMF. Ang bill po namin upon date of discharge is amounting to 168k. Everytime na lalapit kami sa collection and services nila, their only reply is doctor ang kausapin namin. We are talking to some of her doctors, may mga nagbigay na po ng discounts. The problem is the hospital wont negotiate for discounts sa mga bills aside from PFs and wont settle for promissory notes or payment terms. Anu po ba magandang gawin sa mga ganitong pagkakataon? Ang sabi ng nurse, if within one day daw di kami makabayad. Ililipat kami sa charity ward nila and doon magstay hanggat di nakakabayad.

Hi,

I just got a text from the hospital personnel that they will take legal action regarding my unpaid 18k bill. I was told that i will get a hit if ever i will get a NBI clearance. i would like to know if this can really happen. i am looking for a job to pay up the bills left after my mom (the patient) passed away.