The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation denied giving away over ₱600 million to hospitals with claims that were not granted earlier because of late filing.
“The possibility of these claims being considered for payment under an amnesty program is still subject to issuance of a signed Board resolution as well as specific guidelines thereafter,” said Executive Vice President and COO Arnel De Jesus in a statement.
“All of these have not yet been realized and therefore no fund release to speak of.”
He added that PhilHealth will send documents to Congress to support his statement.
This issue was brought up Surigao Del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers in a House panel hearing on the alleged anomalies in the state health insurer. Barbers said some hospitals from 2011 to 2019 were denied benefit claim payments due to late filing, amounting to almost ₱4 billion, but on May 14 this year, the PhilHealth board approved to grant them amnesty worth ₱600 million.
“Dahil nga daw po may pandemic at kinailangan ng financial security at capability ang HCIs kaya babayaran ito,” he told lawmakers.
[They said it was because there is a pandemic and healthcare institutions need financial security and capability, that is why they needed to pay them.]
PhilHealth Corporate Secretary Jonathan Mangaoang confirmed during the session that there was a proposal for that agreement.
Task Force PhilHealth is wrapping up its findings on the irregularities in PhilHealth with the deadline of its report set on September 14.
