THE Provincial Government of Negros Occidental has generated P53.8 million in revenues from its consignment program last year, which is 28 percent higher than the P42 million in 2014.
Lawyer Japhet Masculino, head of the Economic Enterprise Development Department (EEDD), said Wednesday the province has a total consignment collection of P175.6 million in 2015, and has paid P159 million to consignors.
These figures form part of the total PhilHealth reimbursement acquired by the province last year amounting to about P577 million, higher than 2014’s P400 million, Masculino said.
“The province has benefited a lot through the consignment program, which does not require additional appropriations from the Provincial Government fund,” he said, adding that consignment has also secured the availability of drugs, medicines, and hospital supplies especially for the use of indigent patients.
Masculino said that in 2015, the province has a total accumulated collection of P267 million. Of this amount, P91.4 million was collected in 2014.
The bigger income last year is mainly associated to more usage of medicines and other laboratory supplies among the 10 Provincial Government-run hospitals in the province, and eventually translated to bigger PhilHealth reimbursement, he added.
Currently, there are 40 Manila-based and local consignors of 1,120 brands of various drugs, medicines, and laboratory supplies in these hospitals.
These companies should be accredited by the Bids and Awards Committee before they can make an offer of products based on the needs posted by the province, which will then be evaluated by the consignment committee.
Under the consignment program which started in 2006, the province can generate income through mark-ups.
“The income generated by the province through consignments is being allocated and used by the Provincial Government for various projects and services mainly related to hospital operations like improvement of facilities, additional equipment, and for trainings and seminars,” Masculino added.