New PhilHealth chief Gierran to work on reorganization, financial conditions first

New president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) Dante Gierran will implement a reorganization in the state insurer and examine its financial state as part of his short-term goals.

“One is the reorganization. I go with the President. Number two, I will look into the financial conditions of PhilHealth,” he said in an interview on ANC on Tuesday.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Gierran following the resignation of ex-PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales and the leave of absence of top executives amid allegations of corruption and fraud.

Duterte ordered Gierran to remove the regional vice presidents of the state insurer whether they are doing a good job or otherwise as a step to eradicate the anomalies inside PhilHealth.

According to Gierran, the country's President has the power to reorganize the government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) under the Section 5 of GOCC Governance Act of 2011.

Considering that employees are protected by the Civil Service Law, he noted that officials under probe will face six-month suspension with pay while other workers can be transferred to different agencies.

“There were allegations in the past that PhilHealth will not survive, sabi nila, in two years. So I have to know how much money PhilHealth has as of the moment,” he added.

Gierran said he will run after people or companies who have unsettled accountability to revive the funds of PhilHealth.

Some lawmakers earlier expressed concern over the admission of PhilHealth that its funds are depleting and its actuarial life is now reduced to one year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Gierran, the implementation of the controversial interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM) of PhilHealth is a technical malversation.

According to him, the disbursement of a significant amount of money in PhilHealth was made even without a board resolution, which only came a week after the transaction. —KG, GMA News