Lawmaker wants stiffer penalties vs PhilHealth abusers

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

AN ILOILO lawmaker has called on the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to start imposing strict disciplinary sanctions to finally end issues of fraudulent activities within the agency.

Representative Janette Garin (1st district, Iloilo), chair of the House committees on health and population and family relations, said the PhilHealth is currently locked in another controversy after it was discovered that P114 million of its contributions to Accenture is missing.

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Accenture is one of the largest business process outsourcing companies in the Philippines with more than a hundred thousand employees in 48 countries. Started in 2003 in the country, it has since employed more than 1,000 people.

Garin said five PhilHealth employees were suspended for alleged manipulation of the agency’s database, adding this new accusation of fraud within the PhilHealth system echoes past unresolved cases filed against the agency since 1995.

PhilHealth reportedly suffered huge unnecessary losses of about P4 billion due to fraudulent reimbursements and claims.

Among the anomalous transactions include unnecessary and overpriced medical procedures and fake medical missions, such as the one involving “suspicious” cataract medical missions in Iloilo and Bacolod, as well as the postal checks scam that drain the PhilHealth.

Garin said these issues remained unsolved until today despite numerous exposés on the modus operandi and highly unethical practices, involving some health care providers, employers, members and even PhilHealth personnel.

No disciplinary sanctions have been imposed to violators, she added.