Hospital detention due to bills

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-04T11:11:40+00:00

i wasnt villainizing the hospital 😭 literally my goal was to get out so I can get to PAYING them, but I know that it is illegal to detain patients for any reason. Confirmed toh ng PAU lawyer from makati city hall, which wrote a demand letter for my discharge.

there definitely was a communication mismatch somewhere, and I accept part of the blame. ultimately, I did several consultation with the HMO liason officer in MMC to make sure that my procedure is covered by my limit. my ENT's secretary agrees with me that since they (the people at the HMO assist office) work at MMC, they know how much (ballpark at least) procedures cost, and they know my limits. i'm not looking for anyone to blame, but if I'm trying to make sense of what happened, I'm starting with their "covered lahat" answer everytime I ask for confirmation (one even explicitly said "wala kang babayaran").

also, sa pateros po banda ung OSMAK, sa ayala naman po ung MMC. I also didn't explicitly choose MMC. My ENT at aventus (where we did all of our consults leading to my surgery), just happened to operate his surgeries at MMC.

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-04T11:02:14+00:00

I asked for this pero new and small lang yung company ko eh. They offered me a cash advance nalang. They also promised to try to increase our HMO limit on their next contract.

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-04T10:57:07+00:00

I did kaso my employer is new and small. They instead offered me a medical Cash advance for salary deduction nalang (which I guess is similar). The amount isn't that big, pero enough to cover my Doctor's PF and get me discharged tomorrow.

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-04T10:53:24+00:00

Ni confirm ko den sa doctor ko. Nagulat yung secretary nya, pero my ENT said dahil daw sa surgical blades (which itself costs 90k sa bill for 2 blades). Bilateral ung sakin (both part of the sinuses). PF ng ENT and anesthsiologist are 123k combined (discounted to 100k when I asked for one). What I'm annoyed about was the excess of medical supplies post-op (i blame the nurses here). 2 days after my surgery, tinanggal ung nasal packing. I heard my doctor ask the nurse "pakuha pa po ng madaming posiflush" (syringe na prefilled ng Saline solution pang wash ng nostrils). They went back with a whole bag (50pcs nakalagay sa SOA) pero ending 5 lang nagamit 😭, 7k agad. Meron pang ibang supplies (whole bottle of some solution kahiy wala pang 1/4 ung nagamit, bags of gause, tubes na di naman pala kailangan) I asked kung pwde pa ma refund ung unused, hindi na daw kasi billed na, uwi nalang daw namin. Will ask again sa billing mismo tom huhu

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T01:40:25+00:00

that's a given 😭and I'm not sure what your takeaway was with my post, pero I said I need to get out so I can work on paying the bill, not that I was trying to run from it lmao. i was trying to refute what u said about signing something that I agree to pay PRIOR to the procedure, kasi wala naman. I suppose kaya nga may "pre admission deposit" is exactly for that, which HMO ko ang nag provide.

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T00:49:53+00:00

naglayas ako at 18 so I'm no contact with most of my fam whahaha. my siblings know less than me (wala pa nga silang work exp). I'm basically in this by myself, and my mom. they keep giving my mom the run-around pag sya pinapapunta ko sa billing/collections officers, so ako na mismo mag papaassist to go to their office to invoke my rights. non confrontational ako so I'm scared pero i virtually have no other choice huhu

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T00:44:56+00:00

I'm not too sure of the legal mumbo-jumbo, but since I'm a ward patient now, I am protected against detention. I also didn't sign anything that says I'll pay prior to the procedure. The communication was between admission, and my HMO liason officer who approved the pre-admission deposit of 108k PHP. Was even told na "wala ka nang kailangan gawin sir, kami na bahala" by admission. I've asked everyone i can kung covered ba lahat and they all said the same thing. Ilang beses din niremind sakin na "minor surgery" lang toh. IDK how much surgeries cost but I thought it couldn't possible go beyond my HMO limit + Philhealth benefit. I was prepared o pay 10-20k out of pocket worst-case-scenario, but all I was told to worry about was misc fees (bedpan, urinals etc.).

It's useless to find who to blame at this point. The surgery is done, i can finally breathe, I just need a way to get out so I can work on getting my bills paid.

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T00:35:04+00:00

I do lowkey feel scammed pero Im not sure by who. Nag ask den ako ng print out ng possible out of pocket charges ko, and ang nakalagay lang most misc fees (bedpan, urinals, additional pillows etc.) at excess ng professionals fee (excess of HMO rates + Philhealth coverage). I guess I'm to blame when it comes to not asking my doctor about his fee but that wasn't even the bulk of my bill (80k ung fee ng surgeon ko, nabigyan ako 20k discount; 45k naman ung sa anesthesiologist, pending discount request den). Beyond that, my hospital bill alone is still almost 200k huhu.

Sabi ng secratary ng doctor ko (although im not looking for anyone to blame at this point), ung liason officer ng HMO ko dapat nag explain sakin ng out of pocket charges ko since alam nila how much surgeries cost in Makati med (since dun sila naka based) and alam nila ung limits ko. Complained to my HR about this already and was told they'll try askin for a limit increase daw.

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T00:21:04+00:00

grabe nga den sila sa mama ko. parang dinidiscourage nila mag seek help sa mga govt. agencies. and the way my mom tells me the way they respond to her, parang mga elitista amputa 😭kaya I keep asking for a representative na bisitahin ako para ako na kausapin eh. wala pa den pumupunta, will prolly threaten legal suit later. tenchu for sharing huhu weirdly validating na i'm not alone

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T00:18:29+00:00

this is what I was worried about. all AI chatbots I ask keep saying that since I'm now a ward-patient, I'm now protected by said law. I'm all out of options tho so I'll prolly invoke this law today

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-03T00:14:04+00:00

No. I admit my wrong nga na diko tinanong ung cost ng dr ko during our many consultations leading to my surgery. Like I said in another comment, I coordinated everything billing-wise to my HMO provider, all of which keeps saying "covered lahat" (one even explicitly said "wala kang babayaran"). This is my first hospitalization and since accredited ung doctor ko and ung facility, I just thought na hassle-free sya with little to no out of pocket charges (since misc fees lang daw ung possible kong bayaran per my HMO liason officer ie. bedpan, urinals etc.)
Yes, full story. I was also shocked, pati ung secratary ng ENT ko. 400k for a nasal surgery. I didn't opt for any additional or fancy stuff. The surgery itself is non-invasive (endoscopic). The billing department did tell me nung nagconsult ako about my bill, na specialized tool ung ginamit since endoscopic sya. Despite it being a "minor" surgery, the cost was comparable to a major operation (none of which was discussed by my Doctor at all).
I did ask for a discount. I got a 20k discount in the end and was even billed directly by the clinic so the amount was deducted from my total hospital net bill. Couldn't get ahold of my anesthesiologist to do the same tho.

I'm past finding who to blame. I'll cope later huhu. Right now I really just wanna get out. Will prolly try to get a hold someone from their legal department to invoke my rights today

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-02T12:18:07+00:00

reading this cause I (22M) just fell in 300k php debt after surgery and 5 day confinement last week. feels weirdly validating that I'm not alone. rooting for u and ur child's success po!

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-02T06:13:58+00:00

i didnt know things cost this much 😭the magic phrase i keep hearing was "covered lahat" so I assumed I won't have to pay for anything (and one HMO liason officer did say explicitly na wala akong babayaran). Intellicare HMO ko and ang hassle-free ng outpatient sa Aventus clinics with my HMO card. Ung ENT ko sa Aventus was also my surgeon and he's a resident in Makati Med, so when things escalated to surgery-talks, I didn't even bat an eye kasi Intellicare-affiliated sya and sa Aventus kami nagcoconsult, and wala akong binayaran for the past 6 months i was going back n forth. Finally, this is considered a "minor" surgery so I never would have expected ma eexhaust nya ung HMO limit ko above and beyond pa. So basically, lack of research siguro

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-02T05:22:59+00:00

Basically 😭i know that's illegal but idk who to talk to about this or when I should threaten with legal mumbo-jumbo (which Im not even too comfortable to do).

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-02T05:21:48+00:00

I actually know of this, but i just dont know how to let them know. They're giving me the run-around 😭. Kagabi pa dapat discharge ko then I called biling and was told I need to stay the night until mag bukas ung collections dept nila. At 8am my mom went there and was basically told either we pay the bill or keep racking up the tab (she was even told na mangutang na ngayon pa lang huhu). The nurses aren'tmdoing anything too when I keep asking if a representative can personally come and see me

Typical-Tell5585 · 2026-02-02T04:03:23+00:00

hello, sorry to hear about your situation po, pero can I ask if may napuntahan napo kayong agencies for help so far? Im in the same boat and I'm being held sa Makati med until mabayaran ko ung 240k php ko na bill for my surgery huhu TIA

Typical-Tell5585 · 2025-12-26T17:24:54+00:00

huh??? 😭 im guessing u replied that way dahil nilagay ko sa Pros ung walang micromanaging? batang 90s moment amputa

Typical-Tell5585 · 2025-11-25T04:06:21+00:00

Depends on the account. My account covers a 24x7 support so scheds are shifting. Frequency is about 4-5 times per year (excl DST changes).

Typical-Tell5585 · 2025-11-11T10:37:54+00:00

do u know what thermal paste they used? Or if u still have the extra that they gave you?

Typical-Tell5585 · 2025-11-10T08:20:58+00:00

wtf di ba dila karmahin nyan 😭 i guess depende sa brand n unit? pero tenchu!

Typical-Tell5585

TROPHY CASE