Probe of PhilHealth scams sought
Published Jul 3, 2019 11:59 am
By Hannah Torregoza
Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is seeking a Senate inquiry into the various scams hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), noting that the state insurance firm will be the lead agency in implementing the government’s universal health care program.
Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara
(Sonny Angara Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN) It is imperative that lawmakers ensure that the funds allocated for universal health care program under Republic Act No. 11223 would be spent properly before the law is implemented in full, Angara said, noting that P257 billion is needed on the first year of its implementation. Before the 17th Congress ended, lawmakers approved the bill raising the excise tax on tobacco, heated tobacco, and vapor products in order to cover for the budgetary gaps for the full implementation of RA 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act. Angara, who was chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee during the 17th Congress, had worked for the passage of the measure increasing the excise tax on tobacco products so that its proceeds would be used to fund the UHC program. Under the UHC, PhilHealth would be the lead agency, together with the Department of Health (DOH), that will implement the program that provides all Filipinos access to medical healthcare. Angara said he is dismayed at reports of the various scams hounding PhilHealth, and fumed at how a dialysis center was making fraudulent claims from it for patients suffering from kidney disease. “At mukhang hindi lang ito ang problema dahil marami nang mga lumabas na iba pang scams gamit ang pondo ng PhilHealth, (It seems this is not the only problem, because we keep on receiving reports of other scams regarding how PhilHealth funds are being misused),” Angara said. The senator had earlier filed a resolution seeking a probe into all the allegations of fraudulent medical claims to PhilHealth, saying “funds that are intended for the poor and for those who are in actual need of medical assistance should be protected.” “We want to get to the bottom of all these reported scams, identify the personalities behind them, and come up with policies to prevent similar cases from taking place in the future,” Angara said. “Managot ang dapat managot. Hindi natin hahayaan ang patuloy na pagwawaldas ng pera habang ang dami natin mga kababayan na namamatay dahil sa walang pera para magpagamot (Let’s hold them accountable. We will not let them continue misusing these funds while many of our people are dying because they have no money to avail themselves of medical treatment),” Angara pointed out. PhilHealth reportedly lost a total of P154 billion since 2013 due to scams, the latest of which involved the “ghost” dialysis treatments at WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Corp. based in Novaliches, Quezon City. Employees of the company blew the whistle regarding the alleged fraudulent claims made by their former employer to PhilHealth claiming that WellMed executives claimed insurance funds for dialysis treatments of patients who were not able to avail themselves of their weekly sessions and even for those were already dead. Angara noted the firm was able to exploit the system because PhilHealth relied only on the monitoring and reporting of their accredited health care providers on the status of their patients receiving medical services.
Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara(Sonny Angara Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN) It is imperative that lawmakers ensure that the funds allocated for universal health care program under Republic Act No. 11223 would be spent properly before the law is implemented in full, Angara said, noting that P257 billion is needed on the first year of its implementation. Before the 17th Congress ended, lawmakers approved the bill raising the excise tax on tobacco, heated tobacco, and vapor products in order to cover for the budgetary gaps for the full implementation of RA 11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act. Angara, who was chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee during the 17th Congress, had worked for the passage of the measure increasing the excise tax on tobacco products so that its proceeds would be used to fund the UHC program. Under the UHC, PhilHealth would be the lead agency, together with the Department of Health (DOH), that will implement the program that provides all Filipinos access to medical healthcare. Angara said he is dismayed at reports of the various scams hounding PhilHealth, and fumed at how a dialysis center was making fraudulent claims from it for patients suffering from kidney disease. “At mukhang hindi lang ito ang problema dahil marami nang mga lumabas na iba pang scams gamit ang pondo ng PhilHealth, (It seems this is not the only problem, because we keep on receiving reports of other scams regarding how PhilHealth funds are being misused),” Angara said. The senator had earlier filed a resolution seeking a probe into all the allegations of fraudulent medical claims to PhilHealth, saying “funds that are intended for the poor and for those who are in actual need of medical assistance should be protected.” “We want to get to the bottom of all these reported scams, identify the personalities behind them, and come up with policies to prevent similar cases from taking place in the future,” Angara said. “Managot ang dapat managot. Hindi natin hahayaan ang patuloy na pagwawaldas ng pera habang ang dami natin mga kababayan na namamatay dahil sa walang pera para magpagamot (Let’s hold them accountable. We will not let them continue misusing these funds while many of our people are dying because they have no money to avail themselves of medical treatment),” Angara pointed out. PhilHealth reportedly lost a total of P154 billion since 2013 due to scams, the latest of which involved the “ghost” dialysis treatments at WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Corp. based in Novaliches, Quezon City. Employees of the company blew the whistle regarding the alleged fraudulent claims made by their former employer to PhilHealth claiming that WellMed executives claimed insurance funds for dialysis treatments of patients who were not able to avail themselves of their weekly sessions and even for those were already dead. Angara noted the firm was able to exploit the system because PhilHealth relied only on the monitoring and reporting of their accredited health care providers on the status of their patients receiving medical services.