PhilHealth’s No Balance Billing gives Butuan mother financial relief
By Nora L. Molde
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — A Butuan City mother of three no longer had to worry about paying hospital bills after the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) No Balance Billing (NBB) policy covered the hospitalization expenses of her three-year-old child, allowing her family to focus on the child’s recovery instead of financial concerns.
For Ranelyn Daisy Malazarte, her child’s health was her top priority, but expensive hospital bills added to the anxiety brought by her child’s illness.
Through PhilHealth’s No Balance Billing policy, Malazarte was able to avail of hospital services without paying a single peso, enabling her family to use their limited resources for food, medicines, transportation, and other daily needs while caring for their child.
“Ang pinakamahalaga sa akin ay ang kaligtasan ng aking anak. Malaking ginhawa po na wala kaming binayarang kahit isang piso sa ospital dahil sa PhilHealth No Balance Billing. Ang perang sana ay pambayad namin ay nagamit na lamang namin sa pagkain at iba pang pangangailangan ng aking anak habang siya ay nagpapagaling,” Malazarte said.
(The most important thing for me is my child’s safety. It was a huge relief that we did not have to pay a single peso for the hospital expenses because of PhilHealth’s No Balance Billing policy. The money that we would have spent on hospital bills was instead used for food and other necessities while my child was recovering.)
The experience, she said, gave her family peace of mind during a difficult time and demonstrated how government health programs can protect Filipino families from unexpected medical expenses.
The No Balance Billing policy supports President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s policy to strengthen the country’s healthcare system by ensuring that more Filipinos have access to affordable, quality, and equitable health services under the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.
Under the policy, qualified PhilHealth members admitted to ward or basic accommodation in accredited government hospitals are not charged beyond their PhilHealth benefits for covered healthcare services. The benefit covers hospital room and board, professional fees, laboratory and diagnostic examinations, operating room services, and medicines available in the hospital pharmacy, provided these are included in the applicable PhilHealth benefit package.
By eliminating additional hospital charges for eligible patients, the program helps ease the financial burden on low-income families, prevents catastrophic health expenditures, and allows households to use their resources for other essential needs during medical emergencies.
PhilHealth encourages members to maintain updated membership records and coordinate with accredited healthcare facilities to ensure the smooth availment of benefits under the No Balance Billing policy, reaffirming the government’s commitment to making quality healthcare more accessible to every Filipino. (NCLM, PIA Agusan del Norte)
