PhilHealth waiting for DOJ opinion on deal with Red Cross before paying

October 22, 2020

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) Thursday guaranteed that it has enough funds to settle its financial obligations with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) but it will wait for a justice department opinion before doing so.

In a statement, PhilHealth said: "PhilHealth, with the support of its Board of Directors, shall wait for DOJ’s (Department of Health) opinion on the PhilHealth-PRC MOA for proper legal guidance on how to proceed with its payment to the PRC."

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said it is giving the review of the agreement a “preferential attention” to come up with a legal opinion.

Under a 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.

Guevarra said PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran had requested an opinion on the MOA before PhilHealth "makes a decision to pay its indebtedness to the Phil Red Cross."

Guevarra said the review is about the validity of the MOA and may result in liability on the part of those involved in the deal.

"PhilHealth is reiterating that it has the funds to pay its obligations to PRC," the state health insurer said.

PhilHealth appealed to the public for more patience.

"PhilHealth is requesting all those who have been affected by this issue for more patience and understanding as PhilHealth moves forward with this partnership with the proper legal support, all in aid of ensuring that members’ funds are properly handled and disbursed," said PhilHealth.

Last week, the PRC announced that it will no longer process COVID-19 tests that are charged to PhilHealth starting October 15 due to unpaid amount of at least P900 million for  COVID-19 tests at PRC laboratories.

For its part, the Department of Health (DOH) acknowledged that losing PRC as a partner in the COVID-19 response is a major development.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire the Department of Health is "affected by the stopping of the operations of the Philippine Red Cross."

She said DOH will have to tap other accredited laboratories to handle the specimens originally assigned to PRC.

This include 11 government and 10 private laboratories in different parts of the country. DMS