A farmers’ group on Wednesday called for the resignation of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) officials over corruption allegations within the agency.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) emphasized the need for PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales and other officials to resign from their posts after being implicated to anomalies that resulted to the loss of P15 billion in the state insurer’s funds.
“Workers, employees, and voluntary Philhealth members are paying monthly premiums only to find out that the health insurance corporation's fund will last only until mid-2021,” KMP chair Danilo Ramos said in a statement.
”Philhealth is clearly guilty of fraudulent medical claims, mismanagement, negligence, and graft and corruption,” he added.
The group expressed outrage over the widespread corruption inside PhilHealth after its former anti-fraud officer Thorrsson Montes Keith testified in a Senate hearing to expose what he called the “crime of the year.”
It was revealed in the probe that Morales authorized the implementation of the interim reimbursement mechanism—a cash advance program to provide hospitals with emergency fund—and procurement of “overpriced” information and communication technology equipment.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are now looking into the alleged irregularities inside the state-run health insurance firm.
KMP warned Malacanang to refrain from absolving Morales from the alleged fraudulent schemes within PhilHealth.
”The public must continuously probe if this appalling Philhealth corruption case goes all the way to Malacanang," Ramos said.
The group also encouraged Philhealth employees to expose other corrupt activities in the agency.