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Lacson bares billions worth of 'disallowances' in PhilHealth as Senate opens inquiry
By DONA MAGSINO,GMA NewsSenator Panfilo Lacson reiterated that billions of pesos are being misused in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in previous years as the Senate inquiry on alleged corruption commenced on Tuesday.
During his opening message at the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing, Lacson cited the following disallowances in the PhilHealth based on the Commission on Audit reports:
- As of December 31, 2018 - P6.64 billion
- As of December 31, 2017 - P6.12 billion
- As of December 31, 2016 - P5.08 billion
- As of December 31, 2015 - P5.02 billion
- As of December 31, 2014 - P3.98 billion
"Notice PhilHealth’s recurring pattern of violations of auditing rules in terms of suspensions, disallowances and charges," he said.
"Today, even in the middle of a global pandemic, PhilHealth continues to face a train of anomalies, this time involving three major issues we are tackling today."
Among the issues that are expected to be taken up in the Senate hearing is PhilHealth’s alleged overpriced ICT equipment, manipulation of financial statements, and "highly irregular" implementation of advanced payments to health care institutions through the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism policy.
Lacson also claimed that some high-level officials in PhilHealth have already been involved in previous anomalies but managed to keep their posts.
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PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales, along with several top-level PhilHealth officials, are physically present in the hearing.
Among the witnesses to support the supposed irregularities in PhilHealth are former anti-fraud officer Thorrsson Montes Keith, former head executive assistant Estrobal Laborte, and incumbent board member Alejandro Cabading.
Lost to fraud
During the hearing, Morales said PhilHealth could have lost P10.2 billion due to fraud in 2019 and this could double to P18 billion by next year should the issue on alleged irregularities in the corporation remains unaddressed.
In his opening statement, Morales said a study conducted last year found that fraudulent cases comprise 7.5% of the total, which compares with the global average of 10 to 20%.
"I have maintained from day one of my tenure that the main solution to this systematic fraud problem lies in our robust, integrated, and harmonized information management system running a clean, complete, and updated membership database," he said.
Because of this problem, Morales said PhilHealth should be helped instead of mocked.
"Marami pong dapat ayusin sa PhilHealth. PhilHealth needs help. It has taken too many body blows. Tulungan ho natin ang PhilHealth. Kung maari ho, 'wag pagtulungan," he said. —KBK, GMA News