2 whistleblowers surface vs. ghost dialysis claims in PhilHealth

Two former employees of a PhilHealth-accredited dialysis center in Quezon City on Thursday exposed that the healthcare facility they used to work for was allegedly benefiting from claims of deceased patients.

"Yung mga patay po na pasyente is nagpa-file po kami ng additional charges, so patay na po 'yung pasyente, para po makakuha ng additional na income," Edwin Roberto, one of the whistleblowers, said in an interview in Super Radyo dzBB.

"Dalawa lang po kami sa admin at saka ang mga may-ari po. Sila po 'yung nagbigay sa amin ng order na gawin po 'yung mga ganitong transactions," he added.

Roberto and his colleague Liezel Santos, former employees of WellMed Dialysis & Laboratory Center Corp., sought the legal assistance of Atty. Harry Roque after the alleged sluggish action of the PhilHealth on the concern that they raised almost a year ago.

"Lumapit na po kami sa Philhealth wayback last year, una po kaming nakipagmeeting sa kanila ng July then bumalik po kami ng August para ibigay po 'yung mga pangalan ng pasyente sa kanilang legal team," Roberto said.

"Bakit po yung facility na pinanggalingan namin nakapag-renew pa rin ng accreditation gayong nakapagbigay naman kami ng ebidensya sa kanila?" he added.

Roberto said that more or less 10 deceased patients' benefits were being used by the dialysis center to rake in payables from the government-owned PhilHealth.

"Ang isang dialysis po ay nag-aamount po ng P2,600. Ang isang pasyente po ay may 90 sessions. Kung bibilangin niyo po 'yun ng isang buong taon, P234,000 po 'yun," he said.

PhilHealth officials, on the other hand, confirmed that they were able to monitor fraudulent acts involving WellMed. Their findings showed that 28 of the medical cases that have been filed involved dead patients while 12 others are under investigation.

Violators will be charged for misrepresentation and falsification of the claims, it added.

Further, PhilHealth said that intensified efforts are ongoing to purge the government-owned corporation from fraudulent and corrupt activities. —Dona Magsino/LDF, GMA News