By Fernan Angeles
EMBATTLED Philippine Health Insurance Corporation Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Morales has turned the table against private hospitals who he accused of scaling up confirmed COVID-19 cases that enabled them to collect more from the government.
Morales said that his office had been receiving reports that some hospitals are misreporting non-coronavirus cases as such, supposedly in a bid to claim higher reimbursement from the state insurer.
In a television interview, Morales also hinted at their capability to track down those hospitals, using the agency’s present anti-fraud system.
“Marami tayong reports ngayon na ‘yung hindi COVID, nirereport na COVID eh. Kunwari naaksidente o na-istroke, nirereport na COVID. Marami tayong nakukuhang balita na ganyan,” he said.
However, Morales admitted they have yet to file complaints against the hospitals behind the scheme, citing they are still verifying the reports.
He said complaints will be filed against erring hospital officials but added that PhilHealth would want the hospitals to continue operating given the need for healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“’Yung mga propesyunal, ‘yung mga pumipirma ng mga diagnosis, physician, ‘yung mga tao, ‘yun ang hahabulin natin,” he also said.
Morales earlier said PhilHealth is currently investigating some 20,000 cases of alleged fraudulent transactions that involve P4.5 billion funds, as the firm is hounded by corruption allegations and faces several investigations.
The country has already recorded a total of 139,538 COVID-19 cases, with additional 2,987 cases reported on Tuesday. Of the confirmed cases, 68,794 are active cases, 68,432 are recoveries, 2,312 have resulted in deaths.