PhilHealth privatization an option, says GCG chief

The privatization of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is an option being eyed by the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), its chairperson Samuel Dagpin Jr. said Wednesday.

During the Senate deliberation of the proposed P192-million GCG budget for 2021, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian pointed out the state health insurer's "trend of underperformance" in previous years.

Dagpin said that PhilHealth once again failed in the 2018 performance evaluation system—the latest available data that GCG has.

"Bagsak, 78 because the passing is 90%" he said.

Gatchalian said this underperformance lays a "good groundwork" for the privatization of PhilHealth which has also been marred with corruption issues.

"We all know right now that this type of operation is prone to corruption in the hands of the wrong people. Since this operation can be performed by the private sector, why not just give it to the private sector? The government just pays premium?" he said.

Dagpin agreed with the senator.

"Yes, your honor. That's one of the options. The problem really is the claims and benefits portion of our health care system so that would be an option for Congress to look into," he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte also said earlier that he wanted PhilHealth privatized or abolished.

Under the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, the PhilHealth may be abolished and privatized by the President of the Philippines through the GCG, even without going through Congress, according to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.

Section 5 (a) of the GOCC law states that the GCG has the power to “evaluate the performance and determine the relevance of the GOCC, to ascertain whether such GOCC should be reorganized, merged, streamlined, abolished or privatized.”

During the same hearing, Dagpin also said that the GCG is in favor of the proposal to make the Department of Finance chief the chairperson of the PhilHealth Board, replacing the Department of Health secretary.

"Since 2017, we conducted an operational audit with respect to PhilHealth and our recommendation to the Office of the President is to transfer the supervising agency from DOH to the Department of Finance primarily because this is really an insurance business," he said.

He added that the GCG is awaiting the recommendations of the Office of the President in relation to the results of the investigation led by the Department of Justice on alleged irregularities in PhilHealth. — BM, GMA News