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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Duque backs Philhealth quiz

Duque backs Philhealth quiz

Published Aug 12, 2020 04:17 pm

The Department of Health (DoH) said Wednesday that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III  supports  the ongoing investigation on the alleged irregularities at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III
(NTF AGAINST COVID-19 / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

DoH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that Duque is supporting the probe since he is chairman of the board of the State health insurer.

“Kung meron man naa-identify na mga gaps at saka mga ganitong issues he would always support this call para ma-imbestigahan, para it's going to be transparent and clear to everybody (If there are any gaps and these kind of  issues, he would always support such calls for an investigation, so that it is going to be transparent and clear to everybody),” said Vergeire.

Vergeire defended the PhilHealth move to provide the biggest cash advances to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City.

Vergeire said that the PhilHealth Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) is based on “historical figures.”

“They based it on historical figures, historical claims for three months from the previous year,” she said.

“Kung saka-sakaling mas mataas baka iyon 'yung kadahilanan na malaki ang hospital maraming beds, pasyente, high technology din sila, and they cater different or varied types of patients,” she added.

The Health official noted that the SPMC has a 1,200-bed capacity and is one of the biggest hospitals in the country.

“They cater to a lot of cases,  even specialized cases. Meron silang heart specialty, meron silang ibat-ibang cancer specialty. May mga specialized services na inoofer ang SPMC (They have a heart specialty, they have a variety of cancer specialties. The SPMC offers specialized services), and they have  high technology there because we are trying to prime this hospital to be one of the leaders in Asia,” said Vergeire.

During the Senate hearing  Tuesday, it was revealed that the SPMC received the biggest amount of PhilHealth cash advance at P326 million followed by the Philippine General Hospital in Manila with P263.3 million.

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