MANILA, Philippines — A total of P5 billion worth of funds under the controversial Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) have so far been liquidated, an official of the state insurance firm said Friday.
The liquidated amount is 33% of the P14.9 billion released through the IRM, PhilHealth Acting Senior Vice President Neri Santiago told lawmakers during the Department of Health’s 2021 budget briefing at the House of Representatives.
“So far po ang liquidated na amount out of the P14.9 billion ay almost 5 billion na po which is 33% of the released IRM,” Santiago said.
The IRM allows the state insurer to release funds to health care institutions during “fortuitous events” like natural disasters and armed conflict.
The PhilHealth Board ratified the implementation of IRM nationwide at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
It has become one of the subjects of investigations over the alleged anomalies in PhilHealth unearthed during recent congressional hearings.
PhilHealth earlier suspended the release of funds under the IRM “to review its overall implementation and resolve issues arising from congressional inquiries.”
A multi-agency task force created to probe PhilHealth also recommended the filing of graft charges against several officials of the state insurance firm, including its resigned President and CEO Ricardo Morales.