PhilHealth opposes bill giving President power to reorganize, privatize segments

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is opposing the proposed measure giving the President authority to reorganize and privatize certain functions of the state health insurer.

During a House Committee on Health hearing on Tuesday, PhilHealth president Dante Gierran, in his position concerning the House Bill 7249 filed by Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, said that the mandate to reorganize the state insurer is already provided under the Republic Act 11223 or Universal Health Care Act, including the outsourcing of certain functions to ensure operational efficiency subject with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184 or Government Procurement Reform Act.

“In fact, PhilHealth is already in the process of reorganization as directed by the Governance Commission for GOCCs or GCG,” Gierran said.

The PhilHealth chief said that the creation of the Joint Executive-Legislative Social Health Insurance Crisis Commission is no longer necessary inasmuch as the law already provides for a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Universal Health Care to conduct a regular review, which shall entail a systematic evaluation of the performance, impact or accomplishments and the performance of the various agencies involved in realizing universal health care, particularly with respect to their roles and functions.

The HB 7429 or the proposed Social Health Insurance Crisis Act was filed in 2020 amid the ongoing congressional inquiries into the alleged irregularities at PhilHealth. 

Under the measure, the President will have the power to privatize the entire PhilHealth or its segments.

The measure will also establish the Executive-Legislative Social Health Insurance Crisis Commission that will carry out the necessary steps towards the reorganization of PhilHealth and contract a Transition Management Team from a private corporation or management consultancy firm to assume the implementation of the National Insurance Program under the Universal Health Care Law.

During the hearing, Quimbo clarified that the intention of her bill does not intend to privatize the National Health Insurance Program, “which is a social insurance program and should always remain a government program receiving subsidies for indigent households who cannot afford to pay insurance premiums.”

“It cannot be private, it cannot be for the purposes of profit generation. Ang sinasabi ko lamang ay mag-hire ng eksperto from the private sector kung kinakailangan [What I am saying is to hire an expert form the private sector if needed],” the lawmaker said.

The House health panel, led by its chairperson Quezon Representative Angelina Tan, created a Technical Working Group (TWG) to further discuss the proposal. — BM, GMA News