MANILA, Philippines — A total of P2.3 billion worth of funds under the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) have been liquidated so far, according to an official of the state insurer.
Renato Limsiaco Jr., PhilHealth senior vice president for the fund management sector, bared this figure as Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon questioned officials of the agency over the liquidation of the P14.9 billion funds released under the IRM during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Ang liquidation po as of the latest report ay nasa P2.3 billion,” Limsiaco said.
(The liquidation as of the latest report is at P2.3 billion.)
Limsiaco said the liquidated claims include not just the COVID-19 services in hospitals but also for all claims under the IRM, an emergency cash advance measure for unanticipated events like natural disasters and calamities.
Drilon then grilled concerned PhilHealth officials on when the remaining funds that were released under the program will be liquidated.
Israel Francis Pargas, PhilHealth senior vice president for the health finance policy sector, explained that the liquidation has been deferred to a later date “since the pandemic is still around and we are still responding to the needs and results of this pandemic.”
“Another memo coming from our VP (Vice President) in July was released this time again because we want to support the needs of facilities. There was a given option for the regions—if the regions in discussing with the healthcare provider—they are already in a good state, then they can actually start liquidating,” he said.
“However for the others, they may still defer but again the general rule is for liquidation,” he added.
Drilon then clarified if it means then that there would be no liquidation of funds for the next 12 to 18 months as the COVID-19 pandemic could extend to this period. Pargas then replied: “We were actually ordered to immediately liquidate already.”
“The memorandum or the order was that it shall be liquidated to a later date and it will be announced,” he added.
PhilHealth earlier suspended the provision of funds under the IRM “to review its overall implementation and resolve issues arising from congressional inquiries.”