By Liezelle Soriano
MANILA — A bill seeking to impose harsher penalties on hospitals and medical facilities that refuse to discharge patients due to unpaid bills has been filed in the House of Representatives.
House Bill No. 11329, authored by Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña, proposes that violators face imprisonment for up to two years and fines of up to three hundred thousand pesos.
The bill also suggests the cancellation of the hospital’s operational license, effectively turning the patient into a “prisoner.” The director or implementing officer could face up to six years in prison and fines of up to one million pesos.
Cendaña called it “outrageous” for hospitals to detain patients simply because they cannot pay their bills, emphasizing that “being sick is not a crime.”
“Ang ospital ay lugar gamutan, hindi kulungan. Hindi krimen ang magkasakit. It is outrageous for hospitals to detain patients over unpaid bills. Hospitals and medical facilities’ primary concern must be to provide care and treatment. Hindi krimen ang magkasakit. Kaya bakit natin sila ikukulong?” Cendaña said.
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