The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) announced that it will settle its financial obligations to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Monday, October 26.
“PhilHealth will release payment on Monday, October 26, 2020, subject to completeness of billing requirements submitted by the PRC, and in compliance to COA (Commission on Audit) rules,” the agency said in a statement Friday night.
The state health insurer said that it already received the legal opinion from the Department of Justice (DOJ) with regards to the matter.
“(We have received) the DOJ legal opinion saying that the PhilHealth-PRC MOA (memorandum of agreement) is not subject to Procurement Law,” the agency said.
“This should enable the PRC to immediately resume its testing of swab specimen(s) of concerned sectors which PhilHealth pays for,” it added.
On Thursday, October 22, PhilHealth said that it will “wait for the DOJ’s opinion on the PhilHealth-PRC MOA for proper legal guidance on how to proceed with its payment to the PRC,” adding that it has enough funds to settle its debt.
Last week, the PRC stopped conducting COVID-19 tests funded by PhilHealth due to the latter’s outstanding balance of over P930 million.