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Bacolod City, Philippines Monday, August 20, 2012
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Veterans hospitalization assured
BY LISA GAPAC

BINALBAGAN –The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office is now reaccrediting the 599 hospitals in the country to accommodate the hospitalization of Armed Forces of the Philippines retirees and veteran patients, whose expenses will be reimbursed by the agency, Dr. Dominador Chiong, Jr., Chief Professional Staff of Veterans Memorial Medical Center, said Saturday.

Chiong was in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, for the seminar on the joint hospitalization program of PVAO and VMMC for veterans and AFP retirees.

He said the reaccreditation is necessary because some are not aware of the hospitalization, treatment, and medical benefits veteran patients are entitled to where the expenses will be reimbursed by the PVAO.

The reimbursement program started January 2011 and aims to address the inequity in the medical benefits of veterans, he said.

“W e came up with a reimbursement scheme so that some of the procedures and medical expenses may be reimbursed, especially of those living in the provinces,” Chiong said.

PVAO administrator Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina first initiated the program and it is a program that is the first of its kind for veterans and AFP retirees, he said.

He said that in Negros Occidental, almost all district hospitals and infirmaries are accredited by the PVAO, and that they are also coordinating with the 531 local government units supervised hospitals to help implement the program.

Procedures like coronary angiogram, chemo-dialysis, angioplasties, cataract and hernia surgeries, bone placements and orthopedic procedures, and cardio vascular procedures are covered by the refund program, he also said.

Chiong also said that the hospitalization program also covers the veteran's wife and children below 18 years old. They will also receive P800 daily subsidy from PVAO up to a maximum of 45 days of confinement per patient per year, he added.

To process the refund, patients can download the forms at PVAO and VMMC websites. They must also provide proof that the patient is a veteran and all official receipts and clinical profile signed by the attending physician, he also said.

All documents must be mailed to PVAO office in Manila and will be validated before the refund is approved, to minimize fraud, he added.

PVAO also plans to build two replications of the VMMC hospital in the Visayas and Mindanao, though the Mindanao is the first to be considered because many of the APF recruits are from there, and when they retire, they will surely go back to their homeland, Chiong added.

Meanwhile, the town also honored its World War II veterans with the 11 th Infantry Battalion as honor guards, Saturday.*LTG

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