PhilHealth issued an official statement on temporary system downtime. Here's the full statement:

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

UPDATE ON TEMPORARY SYSTEM DOWNTIME
September 23, 2023, as of 8:00 PM

In view of the information security incident that we detected early morning of September 22, 2023, please be apprised that access to all systems including the website, HCI and Member Portal, and e-Claims were disabled or unplugged immediately as part of the information security containment measures being implemented by PhilHealth.

Affected systems shall be restored at the soonest possible time after the completion of the needed configuration and reinforcement of existing information security measures. We are working to restore these systems on Monday, September 25, 2023.

PhilHealth's Management assures the public that the incident is under control and that no personal information and medical information has been compromised or leaked. We have already coordinated with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), National Privacy Commission (NPC), Cybercrime Units of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct forensic investigation and assessment.

In the meantime, the following procedures shall be observed in the interim until the affected systems are restored:

Members and their qualified dependents shall continually be entitled to the benefits of the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) with the submission to accredited healthcare providers a photocopy of the member's PhilHealth Identification Card (PIC) or Member Data Record (MDR) or any identified acceptable supporting documents.

Self-earning individuals and professionals paying their premium contributions may pay directly to PhilHealth's existing Accredited Collecting Agents with over-the-counter payments.

Accredited healthcare facilities are advised to continue deducting PhilHealth benefits and devise temporary arrangements with patients who are for discharge for them to avail of their benefits.

Note: The rule on the filing of claims is covered by the previous Advisory on PhilHealth System Optimization wherein the filing period is extended to another 60 days for claims covering June 01, 2023 to September 30, 2023.

Employers may submit their reports once the Electronic Premium Remittance System (EPRS) has been restored

Meanwhile, PhilHealth continues its operations and processes transactions that can be done manually while configurations are ongoing.

PhilHealth asks for the public's understanding regarding this untoward incident. Further inquiries may be coursed through the PhilHealth Callback Channel at 0917-8987442, the PhilHealth Official Facebook Page @PhilHealthOfficial, or at any PhilHealth Regional and Local Health Insurance Offices.

(Sgd.) EMMANUEL R. LEDESMA, JR.
President and Chief Executive Officer