Duterte wants PhilHealth report, case build up over 'ghost' kidney treatments

MANILA, Philippines — The Malacañang on Friday ordered the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to submit a report and file criminal cases against its officials that allegedly benefitted in bogus kidney dialysis treatments that have been going since 2016.

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that President Rodrigo Duterte “directs the management of the PhilHealth to institute criminal actions against those officials and employees who wittingly or unwittingly allowed such misuse of funds to take place for years.”

“The President instructs the institution’s acting President to submit a detailed report on these irregularities,” the statement further read.

On Thursday, a Philippine Daily Inquirer report said that PhilHealth continued paying for dialysis treatments of a patient that died in 2016.

Edwin Roberto, a former employee of WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center, said the dialysis center continued filing claims for the patient’s sessions despite death.

READ: PhilHealth confirms paying for ghost kidney treatments

Admin cases filed

PhilHealth, on the same day, said it filed administrative complaints against WellMed for misrepresentation and falsification.

“This is the truth of it that we acted upon this case and not sitting on it,” Roy Ferrer, acting president and CEO of PhilHealth, said in a press conference.

The Palace vowed that all persons involved in the alleged fraud would be made accountable and face the harshest penalty imposed by the law.

PhilHealth chief legal officer Rodolfo del Rosario said they have established that WellMed filed fraudulent claims and that the agency has stopped paying claims since February.

He added that PhilHealth has been receiving numerous complaints and that his office is investigating about 2,000 health providers.

Despite the irregularities, Ferrer gave assurance that PhilHealth is financially stable with an P11.6-billion fund.

As of last month, PhilHealth paid a total of P47.2 billion in claims as compared to P38.4 billion during the same period last year. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from The STAR/Mayen Jaymalin