PhilHealth not faltering in fight vs fraud — Duque

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is “not faltering” in its fight against fraud, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured Thursday.

Duque, who also serves as the ex-officio chairman of PhilHealth, was reacting to an article published by Philippine Daily Inquirer that reported on how the agency seems lacking in actions against fraudulent activities.

READ: PhilHealth faltering in fight against fraud

“Yung faltering in its fight against fraud, hindi naman totoo ‘yan, kasi tuluy tuloy naman ‘yung imbestigasyon,” Duque said in an interview over Radyo INQUIRER when asked to comment on the issue.

He noted that there are 23,232 cases that are being adjudicated by the PhilHealth and how the agency stopped a total of P300 million in payments to fraudulent cases in the last four to five years.

“Kinakasuhan sila at kung may ebidensyang malinaw, hinihinto ‘yung payment at pinapatawan sila ng karagdagang kaparusahan, like ‘yung withdrawal of accreditation or ‘yung pagsampa ng monetary fines hanggang P50,000 per claim,” Duque explained.

The Health Secretary also said PhilHealth ensures that all required documents are presented before they release claims as the Commission on Audit (COA) is strict on that manner.

“Ang COA, mahigpit ang COA sa mga ganun, so dapat ‘yung accountability malinaw din, hindi ka basta basta magbabayad na hindi kumpleto ang mga dokumento o mga papeles,” he said.  (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)