go through Justin Ireland D. Table, reporter
The hospital industry says the government needs to provide tax benefits and simplify the import process of key healthcare products.
“The government is providing incentives for tourism, so why not health care?” Jose Rene De Grano, president of the Philippine Private Hospital Association, told The Philippines BusinessWorld.
He said tax benefits would ease the burden of purchasing capital-intensive hospital equipment.
“In fact, some of our smaller hospitals want to expand, but they need a lot of equipment, which is expensive, so they can't do it,” he said.
“Public hospitals have funding, but for private hospitals it's too expensive; for smaller hospitals it's even more.”
He said smaller hospitals are also struggling with personnel costs.
He added: “Salaries have been increasing, and while middle schools and tertiary hospitals can do it, smaller hospitals cannot close; now they want to legislate wage increases; that will hurt many industries.”
He said the government could also help the industry by reducing tariffs on imported equipment.
He added: “Before we had imported from Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, it became too expensive because of our duties.”
He said only large hospitals can afford equipment from Germany now, adding that due to the high tariffs, it becomes too costly for smaller hospitals.
“I hope the tariffs can be reduced so that we can buy the proper equipment,” he added.
He said he hopes the Food and Drug Administration can simplify the import process of medical equipment.
“It takes months now, sometimes years,” he said.
