The Court of Appeals has directed Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital in Baguio City to return P908,116 to senior patients denied mandatory discounts nearly a decade ago. The June 18 ruling also reduced a fine from P7.7 million to P70,000.
The appellate court’s Special 11th Division affirmed the hospital’s administrative liability under Republic Act No. 7875 for failing to apply the required 12-percent VAT exemption and 20-percent senior citizen discount. Complaints against the facility were filed in 2018, leading to earlier PhilHealth rulings that imposed a P7.7-million penalty based on 77 separate counts.
In its decision, the court specified the correct sequence for deductions: first the VAT exemption, then the senior discount, followed by any PhilHealth benefits. The hospital had argued that no output VAT applied to its bills, but the justices found this interpretation unsupported by law.
The ruling requires full restitution to affected patients while treating the violations as a single offense for penalty purposes. Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital is run by the Catholic Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres and remains an accredited PhilHealth provider.
