PhilHealth advance payment to PRC required President's approval –Palace

The Department of Justice (DOJ) opined that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) advance payment for Philippine Red Cross for COVID-19 testing services required the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte, Malacañang said Monday.

Under the memorandum of agreement (MOA), PhilHealth reportedly made an advance payment of P100 million to the PRC for COVID-19 testing services, despite Philippine laws mandating reimbursements instead.

“The advance cash payment requires the approval of the President of the Philippines. It is not clear from the documents submitted to us whether such authority had been obtained,” the DOJ's legal opinion stated, which was read by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque during his regular news conference.

“Nonetheless, even if the [PhilHealth] failed to get such approval prior to remitting the amount to the PRC, we’re of the opinion that such may still be obtained post facto [Latin term for from a thing done afterward].”

The Justice Department had looked into the validity of the MOA as the PRC stopped COVID-19 tests chargeable to PhilHealth after October 14 until the state insurer paid its overdue balance of P930.9 million.

As to whether PhilHealth was legally mandated to immediately settle its debt to PRC, the DOJ said it could not give an opinion due to lack of facts “particularly on the completeness of the requirements and compliance with accounting and auditing rules and procedures.”

PhilHealth said last Friday that it would pay off its debt to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) for COVID-19 tests this week.

However, the state insurer said its payments to the humanitarian organization would be subject to the completeness of billing requirements submitted by the PRC, and in compliance with Commission on Audit (COA) rules.

The DOJ also said there was no legal impediment to the state insurer tapping the services of the PRC, citing the Universal Health Care Law, according to Roque.

The PRC conducts 30 percent of the total COVID-19 tests performed nationwide. — DVM, GMA News