MANILA, Philippines — Despite the allocation of ₱41.15 billion funds for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), there are still a number hospitals refusing guarantee letters (GLs) presented by patients to cover hospitalization costs or expenses.

This has prompted a lawmaker to ask the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation to deyermine why some of these hospitals are refusing GLs when there is sufficient funding allocated under the 2025 national budget.

In a media interview, Talino at Galing ng Pinoy (TGP) party-list representative Jose Teves Jr. was asked about the issue besetting concerned hospitals, particularly some members of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI), and he explained that the hospitals were either hesitant or have stopped accepting guarantee letters (GLs) obtained by indigent patients because there were difficulties in the payment processes.

"GLs issued by a government official or an agency to a hospital form a promissory note or assurance that the services obtained by an individual will be paid. However, problems have been seen," Teves Jr. pointed out even as he disclosed that he would be asking the Department of Health (DoH) to shed light on the matter.
“That is one of the things that we will try to have investigated once Congress opens, we will call the health department to ask why private hospitals were not paid when we have the budget under 2025 or 2024,” he cited.

“Why did they incur a balance when we have programs to follow for these cases. There are funds available, so it means the problem was in how they handled it,” he added.

According to the party-list congressman, he knows that some hospitals have not been paid for their services—which is why some medical facilities enter into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with lawmakers and the DoH to ensure that payments will be facilitated.

“We have a lot of experience about that. We have friends who encountered problems, because private hospitals have not been paid for six months, three months. That’s why we get MOAs, there’s a MOA between the private hospital and the Department of Health. But the problem now is the payment. That is what we will monitor,” Teves noted

Meanwhile, PHAPI president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano clarified that some of their members have decided to suspend or limit the acceptance of guarantee letters due to delays in the payment of receivables under the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) Program.

“The hospitals are slowing down on the acceptance because of slow payment and some want to stop or suspend accepting the GLs (guarantee letters) because their receivables are already too high and it is affecting their operating expenses,” De Grano claimed.

In addition, he assetted that some member-hospitals have decided not to accept guarantee letters for now because they have too many still under processing for reimbursement—like hospitals in Batangas who have received payments amounting to ₱577 million under the MAIFIP, but still have around ₱450 million worth of receivables.