MANILA, Philippines — State health insurance agency Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Tuesday withdrew the accreditation given to WellMed Dialysis Center after allegedly claiming benefits on behalf of its deceased clients.
“Today, June 18, 2019, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has withdrawn the accreditation of WellMed Dialysis Center and Laboratory Corporation in view of the fraudulent claims for dialysis services filed on behalf of deceased patients,” PhilHealth said in a statement.
PhilHealth explained they can withdraw accreditation of any health care provider “after due evaluation of their capacity and integrity,” adding that they also stopped paying claims coming from WellMed even before its accreditation was withdrawn.
“We reiterate that prior to this, PhilHealth has ceased paying the said dialysis center for their claims,” PhilHealth said.
“PhilHealth accreditation is a privilege granted to qualified health care providers for them to participate in the National Health Insurance Program, and can be withdrawn at the discretion of the Corporation after due evaluation of their capacity and integrity,” it added.
The state health insurance firm also encouraged clients and patients of WellMed to transfer to other accredited facilities.
“We advise our members and their qualified beneficiaries who are availing of WellMed’s services to transfer to other accredited facilities to ensure continuous availment of their PhilHealth benefits,” PhilHealth said.
Two former employees of WellMed Dialysis Center, Edwin Roberto and Liezel Santos, earlier exposed the treatment center’s continued claims from PhilHealth even though the patients were already dead.
READ: PhilHealth pays for ghost kidney treatments
Following the exposé, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) conducted a warrantless arrest of one of the co-owners of the treatment center, Bryan Sy.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) later indicted Sy of estafa thru falsification of official documents. Whistleblowers Roberto and Santos were also indicted for the crime.
Sy was, however, released on June 16, after posting a bail of P72,000. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)
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