By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

EMPLOYERS interviewed by this reporter say they welcome the new hospital payment policy that the Department of Public Health announced on Monday.
Most of the big companies have medical insurance for their nonresidents workers and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce president said employers should pay their share of their employees’ medical bills.
Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez in a press briefing on Monday said starting April 2, the Commonwealth Health Center will be requiring patients to partially pay their bills upfront.
Employers must see the hospital’s financial counselor before services are provided to their employees seeking medical care.
Joeten Enterprises said it will not be hurt by the new policy.
Dennis Yoshimoto, the firm’s executive vice president, said their employees have medical insurance.
Calvin Ye, the general manager of Commonwealth Garment Manufacturing and Mirage Saipan Supply Ltd., which has 400 nonresident workers, said they see no problems with the new policy.
Although some of their nonresident workers don’t have medical insurance, “it will be just okay for us to pay the hospital right away.”
Chamber of Commerce president Juan T. Guerrero said “it’s only right that employers should be required to make partial payments for their worker’s hospital bills.”
The new policy, he said, is needed since the government and private sector are having “many problems.”
He said the failure of some employers to pay their workers’ hospital bills is not fair to those paying their share.
He said he understands the burden CHC is carrying because he knows how hard it is to manage “if you don’t collect.”
“Employers should pay their share,” he said.
According to Guerrero, “we also have to make sure that the government itself should pay its share.”
The government, he added, owes CHC “a lot of money.”
“It is about fair play — the private sector should not only be the one carrying the burden,” he said.
When the new system takes effect on Aprila 2, CHC will be collecting upfront partial payment from patients with or without Medicare.
Public Health stated that nonresident workers with 706K permits will have to pay upon check-out and before any prescription is given.
They should make arrangements with their employers to make sure that they have payments available at time of service.
The main reason for this new policy, according to Villagomez, are the complaints they get from patients who have a hard time knowing exactly how much co-payment is.
Co-pay is the fix dollar amount that a patient is required to pay for each hospital, office, outpatient or emergency room visit.
“With this new policy, we will now be able to tell you what’s your co-payment is and how much money is owed to CHC,” Villagomez said.
He said they have seen a lot of people coming to CHC for treatment “and just walking away without paying for any of the medical care that was provided to them. That’s not fair for the general public and especially for those people who are paying their dues with diligence and the insurance firms that pay their bills.”.
He said they have also heard a lot of complaints from people who have to wait before getting their hospital bills.
Most of the people, he added, are willing to pay upfront if they already know the amount of their bill.
Patients with financial difficulties, however, must meet with the hospital’s financial counselor to determine eligibility and qualification for assistance based on information they provide, “including but not limited to a copy of last year’s tax returns and proof of monthly living expenses as recorded on the financial application,”
Villagomez at the same time noted that CHC still has to collect $99 million in receivables.
“We are about to open a brand new facility and we need to ensure that we’re able to keep our programs running,” he said.