Lawmakers called on officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and the Department of Health (DOH) to settle their differences and align themselves to better serve the people.
They made the call during the meeting of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua on Wednesday, January 22, to discuss PhilHealth’s zero subsidy in the 2025 national budget.
Former DOH Secretary and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin noted the apparent internal conflict between the PhilHealth and the DOH regarding case rates or prescribed costs for treatments for covered ailments or diseases.
Garin found it implausible that the PhilHealth Board of Directors, which the DOH Secretary chairs, discusses step-by-step or one-by-one the case rates during its meetings.
“The Secretary of Health cannot handle that anymore. Let us not put an icing on something that is unbelievable. The immediate solution here is first, to stop the internal fighting between PhilHealth and DOH,” the lawmaker said.
Garin pointed out that it is the patients and the public who are suffering from the “endless bickering” of PhilHealth and DOH officials during board meetings. “Let’s call that situation a fact… And I think that is an injustice to the Filipino people,” she said.
The Ilonggo legislator recommended that career officials examine case rates. Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop echoed Garin’s observations. Chua encouraged both PhilHealth and the DOH to align their policies, so they can improve their services.
PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. admitted that there are debates and differences between PhilHealth and DOH policies.
But these have not deterred them from performing well, emphasizing that both PhilHealth and the DOH are working for the Filipino people, he added.
“The fact that we are able to increase the case rates by 95 percent (and) enhance the benefit packages, we’ve been able to increase the payment claims to hospitals, we’ve been able to move forward in our digitalization process,” Ledesma said.
“We’ve done so many positive things so there are always two sides to a coin. We can look at the not-so-good stuff, but we also have many good accomplishments,” the PhilHealth chief added.
DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Francis Domingo said he witnessed the healthy debates in PhilHealth Board meetings.