Thursday, October 04, 2007 Eye doctor claims ‘nothing to hide’ on cataract scam By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
ONE of the seven eye specialist in Bacolod City, who was questioned by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), over the alleged “anomalous” cataract operations said he has “nothing to hide.”
In a phone interview Wednesday night, Dr. Miguel Sarabia said he is not afraid to be investigated by PhilHealth "because I have not done wrong in my practice."
Sarabia admitted servicing or operating about 40 to 50 cataract patients every month at P5,000 charge per patient through PhilHealth insurance.
If computed, he earns about P200,000 every month or P2.4 million a year.
And Sarabia said most of his PhilHealth patients are from Bacolod City and beneficiaries of Bacolod City Eye Program (BCEP).
BCEP is a partnership between the Negros Lions Sight First Foundation (NLSFF) and the City Government of Bacolod specifically designed and aimed at facilitating indigent caratact patients to avail of cataract operation chargeable to PhilHealth insurance.
PhilHealth insurance then can be availed through the PhilHealth sa Masa cards being given by the City Government through the City Social Services and Development Office.
BCEP was started in 2004 and Sarabia is also the medical director of NLSFF.
Double compensation
Sarabia, however, denied allegation that he is gaining much from double compensation through BCEP.
"No, it's not true. I am just charging the patients through their PhilHealth insurance. As to the allegation that the City is also paying me, it's not true," the doctor stressed.
"BCEP is a barangay eye program that has zero budget from the City Government. It's all volunteering from us," Sarabia added.
What the City is providing to this program is simply the logistical support in organizing the patients and transporting them from their respective place to the eye camp where we are going to perform the operations, he said.
As to the P5,000 charge per patient, Sarabia said, "It's PhilHealth's relative unit value rate for every manual caratact operation."
"We're not dictating the rate. It's PhilHealth which is the one giving us the rate," he added.
Misunderstanding
As to the issue of not informing his patients prior to the operations that his services will be charged to their PhilHealth insurance, Sarabia said, "This is just a sort of misunderstanding between me and my poor and illiterate patients."
"But as I stressed, there's no fraud here and I never fooled my patients," he added.
Sarabia said he is ready to face any investigation and explain his side.
He said for four years now of leading BCEP, he had already operated 860 cataract patients and
examine-for-free around 5,000 patients.
Aside from Sarabia, six more Bacolod eye doctors are now being probed by PhilHealth including the Bacolod Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital (BOLMSH) in Eroreco, Mandalagan.
Lawyer Jay Villegas, head of the PhilHealth Central Office's Fact-Finding Investigation Section, said the "red flag" is up on hospitals and doctors doing cataract operations in Western Visayas.
