The Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed the creation of a technical working group to study the proposed transfer of the administrative supervision of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to the Office of the President.

Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the proposal to transfer the administrative supervision of the country’s national health insurance program to the OP was proposed by PhilHealth itself.

“This proposal was presented by PhilHealth and it came from them. They are proposing for it to happen,” Vergeire told reporters in a press briefing.

“There had been no official agreement yet, that is why we created a technical working group to study carefully their proposal,” she added.

She noted that the state insurer provided reasons behind its proposal but she refused to elaborate on it.

“There had been some details or justifications why this was proposed by PhilHealth but I think it would be more appropriate for them to answer,” she said.

Legalities

Vergeire stressed that a TWG was created to study the legal implications of the state insurer’s proposal.

“According to the law, PhilHealth is our [Department of Health] attached agency. We should carefully study it with our lawmakers if the transfer would be appropriate,” she said.

“Nothing is final yet. It is just a proposal. We created a group to study it thoroughly and see its benefits for the public,” she added.

Under Article IV, Section 15 of Republic Act 7875, PhilHealth is a tax-exempt government corporation attached to the DoH for policy coordination and guidance.

The Daily Tribune sought comments from PhilHealth regarding the issue but it has yet to respond as of press time.