PhilHealth: Over 4,000 cases still to be resolved
Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2019 16:11:54 +0000
State-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has failed to resolve about half of 9,033 cases alleging fraud and other violations by partner healthcare providers.
Data retrieved by The Manila Times from PhilHealth’s arbitration office showed that between 2000 and 2019, only 4,629 cases were resolved, with 618 individuals fined and another 833 provisionally terminated.
“A balance of 4,404 [cases] are ongoing, either as regular current cases (982) or reopened cases (3,422),” PhilHealth said.
PhilHealth deputy spokesman Rey Baleña told the Times that “due process” had to be followed, thus the time being taken to resolve the complaints.
Allegations of fraud and irregularities at PhilHealth, the latest involving “ghost dialysis” treatments, have cost the firm’s top officials their jobs.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this week called on the PhilHealth Board to resign and Baleña said they had already complied.
“[Acting President and Chief Executive Officer Roy] Ferrer and all six board members tendered their resignation on June 11,” Baleña said.
Joining Ferrer were Jack Arroyo, Rex Maria Mendoza, Hildegardes Dineros, Roberto Salvador, Joan Cristine Reina Liban-Lareza and former PhilHealth chief Celestina de la Serna.
“It is up to the Malacañang now if they will accept the resignation,” Baleña added.
Duque exempted?
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, however, said the resignations should include Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd as he was also the PhilHealth Board chairman.
“When all the board members of PhilHealth were asked to resign, it is difficult to understand why a different standard should be applied to the chairman of the board, who happens to be the DoH (Department of Health) secretary,” Lacson tweeted.
“Considering all the circumstances already made public, not to mention the humongous amount squandered that should benefit millions of ordinary citizens in dire need of medical assistance, if that is not selective justice, I don’t know what is.” Lacson said.
Duque was not immediately available for comment.
Former Health secretary Janette Loreto Garin, who had accused PhilHealth — then under Duque — of irregularities when she was still a member of the House of Representatives, said she welcomed Duterte’s decisive action.
“Political will,” she added, is necessary to break the cycle of irregularities at the state-owned firm.
Garin admitted to having failed to stamp out corruption in PhilHealth, but claimed that “drastic changes in the legal system” had been implemented during her time as Health chief.
“Fraud is a virus with no treatment. No vaccine. We can’t eradicate its habitat, but we need to break the cycle. This ‘fraud virus’ mutates every time a new president, board and SoH (Secretary of Health) assume office. It is highly contagious,” she said on Wednesday.
GLEE JALEA AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL
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