PhilHealth’s incompetence

Clearly, the Department of Finance (DoF) and PhilHealth are not giving to Caesar what’s due to Caesar. What is more appalling is the insensitivity, inefficiency or perhaps incompetency of PhilHealth officials, the lords at the national health insurance agency program.

A government owned and controlled corporation, its chairman, being an agency under the Department of Health (DoH), is Secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa, while Mr. Emmanuel “Mandy” R. Ledesma Jr. is its president and CEO.

Aside from the two gentlemen, there are 13 members of the Board of Directors composed of the head of the DBM, DSWD, DoF and DoLE plus eight presidential appointees representing several sectors. They are, aside from Ledesma, Dr. Carmencita D. Padilla, Atty. Gioan Legaspi, BGen. Marlene R. Padua, Dr. Rene Lopez, Dr. Thea Gimenez, and Dr. Maria Gonzaga. One seat which should be filled by an elected LGU official remains vacant.

There is disgust and frustration among us PhilHealth members who have to suffer financial agony due to the lack of funds to settle hospital bills and to buy medicines — which is worse than the illness itself. This brings families to financial ruin.

Indeed, it’s disgusting because while we suffer financially, there are billions in idle funds intended for members’ use but which do not reach them. That rich man, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, snatched the P89.9 billion in excess funds, saying they were idle and were needed for investments in infradev, and claiming the transfer was allowed under the law.

Well, I’m sure that most PhilHealth members would agree with the rich man, as I do, on the transfer of excess funds from government corporations, but not from the health insurance agency.

There are 71 different organizations protesting the transfer, including the Philippine Medical Association which argued the funds belonged to the PhilHealth members, no one else.

Now aside from insensitivity and callousness, there was gross neglect of duty which could be a manifestation of the incompetence of the officials who did not expand members’ benefits with the idle funds. Why, oh why, does the Board of Directors allow this malady and agony to persist as the norm?

There is really something wrong with the board and the management of PhilHealth. They aren’t doing their job as mandated by RA 6111, later amended by RA 7875, otherwise known as the National Health Insurance Act, which mandates the corporation to provide financial access to quality health care services.

The DAILY TRIBUNE reported on 22 August that “Senator Christopher ‘Bong’ Go announced on Tuesday, 27 August, that he will closely examine the 2025 budget of PhilHealth, after he criticized the transfer of P89.9 billion in excess funds to the National Treasury. This amount was part of the P500-billion reserve fund that remained unutilized and that should have been returned to the national government coffers.”

Go questioned during the budget deliberations why “PhilHealth is requesting a P74-billion subsidy if funds are not being utilized for their intended purposes….as well as the prudence of entrusting more funding to an agency that cannot effectively implement its programs.”

Further to the DT report, Go pointed out the irony of PhilHealth’s unused billions while many patients struggle to pay for their hospitalization, having to resort to selling or pawning properties to cover their medical expenses.

Indeed, the Board should be replaced with better men and women because of their incompetence and gross neglect of duty which are punishable under our laws.

I will not be surprised if several PhilHealth members will come forward and file a class suit or complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman against the incompetents.

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