The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) Management on Saturday, Sept. 23, released an update on the the temporary downtime in its system and assured the public that this will be restored at the "soonest possible" time.
"We are working to restore these systems on Monday, Sept. 25," PhilHealth said in a statement signed by President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Emmanuel Ledesma, Jr.
PhilHealth said that it is configuring and reinforcing the current information security measures in the aftermath of the security incident detected on Sept. 22.
PhilHealth noted that due to the information security incident, access to all systems including the website, HCI and Member Portal, and e-Claims “were disabled or unplugged” as part of its security containment measures.
No information compromised
Meanwhile, the PhilHealth Management also assured the public that the detected information security incident is “under control.”
Moreover, the state-run corporation added that “no personal information and medical information has been compromised or leaked.”
Following the incident, PhilHealth has been closely coordinating with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), the National Privacy Commission (NPC), the Cybercrime Units of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate the incident.
Procedures until the system restoration
In the meantime, PhilHealth said that the members and their dependents will still be entitled to benefits from the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) by submitting a photocopy of the member's PhilHealth Identification Card (PIC) or Member Data Record (MDR) or other acceptable supporting documents.
PhilHealth also advised that self-earning individuals and professionals may still pay their premiums over the counter to PhilHealth's Accredited Collecting Agents.
Accredited healthcare facilities, PhilHealth said, are also advised to “continue deducting PhilHealth benefits and devise temporary arrangements with patients who are for discharge for them to avail of their benefits.”
PhilHealth also noted that the rule on the filing of claims is covered by the previous Advisory on PhilHealth System Optimization wherein the filing period is extended to another 60 days for claims covering June 1 to Sept. 30, 2023.
On the other hand, PhilHealth said employers may also submit their reports once the Electronic Remittance System (EPRS) “has been restored.”
Despite the incident, PhilHealth assured that it will continue its operations and process transactions that can be done manually “while configurations are ongoing.”
PhilHealth also asked for the public’s understanding regarding the “untoward incident.” (Lizst Torres Abello)