Senators on Tuesday highlighted the need for finance experts to man the operations of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) as they weigh in on the five-day holiday that a group of private hospitals is planning to implement.
“It makes perfect sense for PhilHealth to be headed by one who is also adept in finance. We have no lack of brilliant experts who have background in both public health and finance, particularly those with Masters in Public Health,” said Senator Grace Poe, in a statement.
“More than re-arranging the bureaucracy, it might be more beneficial to just appoint the right person for the job. A true public health and finance expert must be at the helm of PhilHealth, not just any bureaucrat with close ties to the appointing authority,” Poe added.
“But the question we have been asking since the start of the pandemic is: who will take over a sinking ship? Surely, this country has no shortage of men and women who can run PhilHealth properly. But it is hard to find a true expert if we will continuously just look at the usual pool of recycled appointees,” she lamented.
A major cause of concern
Sen. Nancy Binay, in a separate statement, said the planned “PhilHealth” holiday by the private hospitals is a major cause of concern “that merits an emergency meeting of the state insurer’s board and all members that are Cabinet secretaries.”
“It is sad that some hospitals have to resort to this. Nakakadismaya dahil makailang beses na natin ni-raise sa Senate committee hearings ang isyu with PhilHealth and hanggang ngayon wala pa ring malinaw na solusyon sa problema (It is disappointing because we have repeatedly raised this issue during the Senate committee hearings with PhilHealth and until now they still have no clear solutions to the problem),” Binay pointed out.
“Tama ba yung pasyente muna ang mag-aabono ng pang-ospital, tapos bahala na rin silang maghabol sa Philhealth? 'Di pa tapos ang Covid at kailangan natin paghandaan din ang possible surge ng variants (Is it right that patients should be made to shoulder their hospital expenses and let them come after PhilHealth on their own)?” she said.
“PhilHealth and the DOH (Department of Health) should get their act together to prevent more hospitals from disengaging,” Binay stressed.
PhilHealth should be under DOF
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who is seeking the presidency in next year’s May 2022 elections, also agree that finance experts should run the state health insurance agency.
Lacson said PhilHealth should be under the Department of Finance (DOF) instead of the DOH and should be headed by a finance rather than a health expert, much less someone who has no backgroudn and experience in either field.
“Why? PhilHealth deals with health insurance, not health. We need somebdoy there who knows how to count and manage funds, not a health practitioner,” Lacson said.
Lacson also pointed out that the Senate inquiry on PhilHealth anomalies last year had resulted in the filing of criminal and administrative charges against top PhilHealth officials. But after more than two years that passed, those cases are still pending either in the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan, he lamented.
“As long as the wheels of justice grind at an irritatingly slow pace and the conviction rate in graft and corruption cases remains very low, no matter how many Senate inquiries we conduct, we cannot expect corruption to abate,” said Lacson.
“That said, the Senate can only do so much in the exercise of our legislative and oversight mandate. There is no saying here that we are powerless. I am only trying to say, we always do our part in this regard,” he reiterated.
Sen. Sonny Angara also said he finds the proposal to allow finance experts to man PhilHealth operations appropriate.
“We saw the hospital withdrawal coming which is why I’ve been pushing PhilHealth to examine their reimbursement procedures. The suggestion to have more finance professionals is sound as well as actuaries and management experts,” Angara said.
“Sorry to say but PhilHealth is one of the weak links right now in the country’s health system. It could be a game changer because of the UHC (Universal Health Care) law but it needs to be more efficient and well-managed to be such,” added the Senate Finance Committee chief.
Poe, however, said the move for a PhilHealth has long been coming ever since the Senate found out about the anomalies last year.
“We can hardly fault the private hospitals for taking more drastic measures this time around. Instead of getting better after the revamp, the agency’s finances took a turn for the worse,” she said.
“But the question we have been asking since the start of the pandemic is: who will take over a sinking ship? Surely, this country has no shortage of men and women who can run PhilHealth properly. But it is hard to find a true expert fi we will continuously just look at the usual pool of recycled appointees,” Poe noted.