A small hospital in Davao del Sur allegedly received an excessive P10 million for at least two years from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Monday, August 10.

This is one of several allegations senators will bring up in a second hearing of their legislative probe into a corruption scandal hounding PhilHealth, Zubiri added. The hearing is set for Tuesday, August 11.

“Biro mo, nahalungkat namin sa isang lugar sa Davao, may isang infirmary diyan, sampung kama lang po siya pero nakakatanggap ng P10 million galing sa PhilHealth,” Zubiri said in a dzBB radio interview on Monday morning.

(Imagine, we discovered that in a certain place in Davao, there is an infirmary there, it’s only got 10 beds but it receives P10 million from PhilHealth.)

Asked for details, Zubiri afterwards shared with reporters a portion of a document with the letterhead of PhilHealth’s Davao regional office.

The document mentions a certain “Dr Golingay” in connection with “GGH, an 18-bed infirmary.” Zubiri did not confirm whether it was referring to Golingay General Hospital in Malalag, Davao del Sur.

The document states that when PhilHealth’s internal auditing body “pointed out the striking figures in claims for the region, GGH, an 18-bed infirmary, was in the ranks of tertiary hospitals at top 7 highest paid facilities on (sic) pneumonia claims, having collected P18 million in 2014 and almost P10 million in the first semester of 2015.”

The “hospital” had earlier been the subject of disciplinary action by PhilHealth, the document further states.

“Na-investigate na fully ‘yan pero wala pa ring nangyari (That has been investigated fully but nothing happened),” Zubiri told reporters in a message.

Corruption allegations

The Senate is investigating allegations of “widespread corruption” in PhilHealth attested to by 3 whistleblowers: PhilHealth board member Alejandro Cabading, head executive assistant Etrobal Laborte, and anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith.

Laborte and Keith have resigned from PhilHealth, effective by the end of August.

The probe’s first hearing on August 4 tackled the whistleblowers’ accusations that PhilHealth’s executive committee authorized questionable budget proposals and fund disbursements amounting to billions of pesos.

Cabading said a proposal for a P2.1 billion budget for information and communication technology in 2020 was bloated by about P734 million.

Laborte gave the Senate committee documents alleging that a planned P4.8 million purchase of 15 network switches was more than quadruple the items’ market price.

PhilHealth also allegedly paid out some P226 million to dialysis clinics and more than P4.7 million to maternity clinics under its Interim Reimbursement Mechanism, which should have prioritized COVID-19 hospitals.

Keith told the Senate that members of PhilHealth’s executive committee may have pocketed or misspent P15 billion of the state insurer’s funds.

PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales and other agency executives have denied these allegations. Although Morales said the agency loses around 7.5% of its funds to fraud every year, the problem is “systemic,” and there is “no reason to doubt” PhilHealth’s top executives.

Despite undergoing chemotherapy, Morales said he would continue to represent PhilHealth in the Senate probe, asking only that he be allowed to participate via video conference instead of physical attendance.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said the Senate would not require Morales to attend the probe, although it would be his loss if he could not respond to new allegations to be taken up in the upcoming hearing. – Rappler.com