Hospitals may not refuse treatment in emergency or serious cases

Dear PAO,

I rushed my pregnant wife to the nearest hospital because she was experiencing excruciating pain in her lower back and abdomen and was heavily bleeding. We did not have enough money to make an advance payment to the hospital, not to mention enough time to look for sufficient funds. Yet the hospital insisted that we should pay in advance for them to assess my wife’s condition and give her due treatment. Can the hospital demand advance payment in such situations?

Marco

Dear Marco,

Please be informed of Section 1 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 702, as amended by Republic Act 10932, or “An Act Strengthening the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law by Increasing the Penalties for the Refusal of Hospitals and Medical Clinics to Administer Appropriate Initial Medical Treatment and Support in Emergency or Serious Cases,” which states that:

“Section 1. In emergency or serious cases, it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, president, director, manager or any other officer, and/or medical practitioner or employee of a hospital or medical clinic to request, solicit, demand or accept any deposit or any other form of advance payment as a prerequisite for administering basic emergency care to any patient, confinement or medical treatment of a patient in such hospital or medical clinic or to refuse to administer medical treatment and support as dictated by good practice of medicine to prevent death, or permanent disability, or in the case of a pregnant woman, permanent injury or loss of her unborn child, or noninstitutional delivery x x x”

As provided under Section 1 of the aforementioned law, it would be unlawful for the hospital, in emergency and serious cases, to demand an advance payment as a prerequisite for administering basic emergency care to any patient or to refuse to administer medical treatment and support as dictated by the good practice of medicine to prevent death, permanent disability or, in the case of a pregnant woman, permanent injury or loss of her unborn child, or noninstitutional delivery.

Since your pregnant wife was suffering from excruciating pain in her lower back and abdomen and had heavy bleeding, there are indications that her situation warrants an emergency or serious case. Thus, the hospital cannot insist on asking for an advanced payment for them to assess your wife’s condition and give her due treatment.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]