BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
Amid allegations of his involvement in corrupt activities, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ricardo Morales vowed on Monday to run after the hospitals which have been making false health claims and become the main source of fraud in the agency
“So we are alerting the regional offices to go after these hospitals and to see to it that this is corrected and anybody guilty should be punished,” he said dring an interview over CNN Philippines.
The PhilHealth chief cited that there are currently “about 20,000 cases of potential fraud in our legal offices.”
“About 8,000 here in central office and about 12,000 in the regions, equivalent to P4.5 billion of potential fraud,” he noted.
Morales disclosed that PhilHealth also commissioned a study concluded in December last year which showed that the agency’s fraud index is at 7.5 percent.
“So, in other words, for every peso spent about 7.5 centavos goes to fraud,” he explained.
With this, Morales noted that of the P136 billion benefit payments made last year, “about 10 billion of that is fraud.”
“Where is this fraud? Most probably in the hospitals,” the PhilHealth executive said.
“Today, as we speak there are hospitals out there charging COVID rates for non-COVID cases,” he cited as an example.
With the number of fraud cases PhilHealth is handling, Morales disputed the claim of Sen. Panfilo Lacson that one year was enough time to rid the agency of corruption.
“Kulang isang taon, kulang tatlong taon,” the PhilHealth chief pointed out.
Meanwhile, Morales welcomed the various investigations taking place to identify corrupt activities in PhilHealth.
“I welcome it. I have nothing to hide. I might be embarrassed but I have nothing to hide,” he declared.
The PhiliHealth executive expressed confidence that he will be cleared of allegations of being involved in corrupt activities.
Morales also defended his position not to resign due to the ongoing pandemic, the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law, and the need for a systemic solution to rid the agency of fraud including putting in place an IT system.
“It’s not wise to change horses in the middle of the stream. That’s what I was trying to avoid,” he explained.
Morales said that he leaves it to President Duterte to allow him to stay or not at PhilHealth.
“I have already relayed to my bosses my intentions and it’s up to them to decide,” he said.
