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Manila Bulletin devider devider 21 PhilHealth Officials face raps over 'ghost dialysis' scam

21 PhilHealth Officials face raps over 'ghost dialysis' scam

Published Aug 28, 2019 08:27 pm
By Jeffrey Damicog Twenty-one officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) face a criminal complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allowing WellMed Dialysis Center to continue to make “ghost” claims. PhilHealth logo (MANILA BULLETIN) PhilHealth logo
(MANILA BULLETIN) National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Vicente De Guzman III announced on Wednesday (August 28) that the NBI’s Anti-Graft Division (NBI-AGD) filed the complaint on Tuesday (August 27) for preliminary investigation by the DOJ. In its complaint, the NBI-AGD accused the 21 respondents of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; RA 10606, the National Health Insurance Act of 2013; and gross inexcusable negligence under RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Those who have been named as respondents are PhilHealth Accreditation Department head Dr. Rizza Mahella Herrer and members of the Accreditation Sub-Committee of PhilHealth Regional Office-National Capital Region (PRO NCR) including its branch manager Dr. Lolita Tuliao. The other respondents are Dr. Bernadette Lico, Dr. Janice Gem Perlas, Dr. Leilani Cherillina Joy Asprer, Dr. Rofien Ison, Dr. Manuel Lampitoc, Atty. Recto Panti, Henry Almanon, Dr. Jeffrey Pe, Dr. Quintin Callueng, Atty. Mary Grace Delos Santos, Maricel Maglalang, Susan Rebecca Romero, Yvonne Fernandez, Dr. Katrina Marie Aguilar, Dr. Cynthia Camacho, Dr. Imelda Trinidad De Vera-Pe, Dr. Arsenio Alcantara, and Dr. Letecia Gay D. Aguda. The investigation against the 21 PhilHealth officials is an offshoot of the NBI probe conducted against WellMed and resulted in the filing of charges against WellMed owner Dr. Bryan Christopher Sy before the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC). The charges filed at the QC MeTC concerns allegations that WellMed was involved in the “ghost dialysis" scam by defrauding PhilHealth with bogus claims using the names of dead patients. The case was investigated following revelations made by whistleblowers Edwin Roberto and Liezel Aileen De Leon, both former employees of WellMed. NBI-AGD Chief Catherine Camposano-Remigio said that before the whistleblowers went to the NBI they first reported about the fraudulent claims to PhilHealth in June 2018. “Despite there was already an investigation terminated by the FFIED or the Fact-Finding Investigation and Enforcement Division, nabigyan pa rin ng accreditation in 2019 ang WellMed (WellMed still received accreditation in 2019),” said Remigio. Remigio lamented that even after the “ghost dialysis” scam came out “there was still no withdrawal of the accreditation.”
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