Gordon: Replace all PhilHealth regional directors

Sen. Richard Gordon (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Richard Gordon wants all regional directors of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) removed as one of the measures to curb alleged corruption in the state-run insurance firm.

In an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel on Thursday, Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said that some regional directors have been in their positions for at least two decades.

“Unang una, dapat drain the swamp. Tanggalin lahat ‘yung mga regional directors,” he said when asked about concrete measures that can be done to fix the corruption issue in PhilHealth.

(First of all, we should drain the swamp. Remove all the regional directors.)

“Some of the regional directors have been there for 20 to 22 years. Kaya doon mo makikita ‘yung upcasing, tinataas nila ‘yung presyo, ‘yung mga binibigay nila na presyo nagkakaroon sila ng favoritism,” he added.

(Some of the regional directors have been there for 20 to 22 years. You will see upcasing of cases to increase the payment for claims. They also practice favoritism in the payments.)

He cited as an example the 707,133 claims for pneumonia recorded by PhilHealth in 2017 when data from the Department of Health showed there were only 454,000 reported pneumonia cases that year.  

Aside from removing these officials, Gordon said PhilHealth’s spending should also be strictly monitored.

“Meron tayong board of supervisors na eminent persons to really monitor what is happening, and within the organization, [there should be] establishment of a monitoring group sa central office para nababantayan lahat ‘yan,” he added.

(We should have a board of supervisors composed of eminent persons to really monitor what is happening, and within the organization, a monitoring group in the central office must be established.)

“Dapat magkaroon tayo ng monitoring every week ng mga sinasubmit. Makikita mo, ilan ang binibigay sa doctor na ito, ilan ang binibigay sa hospital na ito. Malalaman natin ngayon. Magkakaroon tayo ng pattern kung ano ang ginagawa nila,” he said.

(We should monitor the claims submitted every week. Through this way, you will see how much is being paid to hospitals. We will see their pattern of activities.)

Gordon said other senators have likewise recommended a computerized system for announcements on deaths of individuals which PhilHealth, as well as the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office can access to avoid payments of benefits to deceased members.

The Senate earlier decided to terminate its investigation on the alleged corruption in the agency, with Senate President Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the Senate Committee of the Whole, saying they are “done with the carousel of denials and lies.”

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