At least three major issues will be the focus of an upcoming Senate investigation into the corruption and mismanagement hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Sunday.
Lacson said a fourth issue involved the PhilHealth’s plan to impose an added fee on overseas Filipino workers, but this was resolved when President Rodrigo Duterte ordered it stopped.
“Maraming issues na lumabas at may basehan kasi. Ang dinraft naming resolution tapos na at na-review na ni Senate President Sotto. Bukas ng umaga pipirmahin namin para mai-file sa bills and index sa Senate. At kung may pagkakataon mabasa ito sa floor, makakapag-schedule kami. The earliest siguro Thursday ang Committee of the Whole hearing,” Lacson said in an interview on DZBB and GMA News TV.
He said the first main topic involves the PhilHealth’s abuse of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism, where the agency would advance funds to hospitals affected by calamities, both man-made and natural.
Under the scheme, the PhilHealth was to prioritize hospitals handling several COVID-19 patients – but documents show PhilHealth disbursed funds to selected hospitals in record time.
These include the release of P247 million to three hospitals in Bicol, and P196 million to two hospitals in Eastern Visayas – with some hospitals in Eastern Visayas unaccredited and some hospitals having only one COVID patient.
“Sa Bicol, isang linggo na-release na. Sa Eastern Visayas naman, 2 hospitals, March 23 rin nag-apply ng IRM, sa loob ng dalawang linggo na-release ang P196.5M. Ang siste, isang pasyente lang ng COVID,” Lacson said.
On the other hand, Lacson noted PhilHealth released last April 15 some P9.6 million to a hospital in Catarman, even if the hospital has a violation of warranties of accreditation and has pending cases.
Another hospital in Davao del Sur got P11.73 million last May 5, he added.
By comparison, he said St. Luke’s Medical Center is asking for P300 million from PhilHealth due to the big number of COVID-19 patients in its ward – but has yet to receive the amount.
The second issue, Lacson said, involves the PhilHealth’s “flagrant insertion” of P734 million worth of ICT equipment in its budget. This was flagged by the Commission on Audit.
He said while the DICT already approved the budget for PhilHealth’s ICT requirements, PhilHealth submitted a new list of requirements amounting to P734 million.
“Siningit ang ibang resources at equipment na hindi approved ng DICT. Remember, DICT ang department na nakakaalam dapat ng kung ano ang requirement ng iba’t ibang ahensya kasama PhilHealth. E approved na nga at siguradong nakonsulta ang PhilHealth. Bakit ngayon babaguhin ang listahan? Di lang yan, nagkaroon ng red flag din yan kasi split ang mga items doon sa procurement,” Lacson said.
The third issue involves PhilHealth’s “doctoring” of its financial status, to make it appear it is financially stable.
He said a check of PhilHealth’s financial records showed its debt-to-equity ratio is 1-to-0.99, or with its P111-billion liabilities bigger than its P109-billion assets.
Lacson said this does not even include a P14-billion “adjustment” PhilHealth made to its records. Had it been included, the debt-to-equity ratio would have worsened to 1-to-0.86.
“Kaya nakakapangamba rito kaya may mga projection ang nasa loob din, ang kanila rin taga-PhilHealth, na by 2022 pag hindi naawat ang ginagawang kalokohan sa PhilHealth o mismanagement ng pondo, baka sa 2022 ma-bankrupt ang PhilHealth,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lacson noted a fourth issue involving a directive to collect an additional fee from OFWs, which met opposition from the affected overseas workers.
“Di ba recently lang sabi ng Pangulo huwag mo sinigilin ang OFWs. So tinigil yan,” he said.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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