MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), government workers, frontliners and other individuals can no longer avail themselves of coronavirus disease swab tests offered by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) if they are going to use their Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) cards to guarantee payment.
Beginning Wednesday, the PRC stopped accepting specimens from OFWs and frontliners due to PhilHealth’s inability to pay the accumulated testing fee, which stands at more than P930 million.
PhilHealth urged the OFWs and other affected sectors to go to other accredited testing centers – like the Lung Center of the Philippines and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine – to avail themselves of the agency’s benefits while the issue is still being resolved.
The Department of Health said the laboratories at Dr. Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center, PNP Crime Laboratory, San Lazaro Hospital, Ospital ng Imus and Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital are also ready to provide swab tests for OFWs.
National Task Force chief implementer Carlito Galvez gave assurance that the government is ironing out the concern to avoid disruption in PRC services to the public, citing its importance as a government partner in fighting the pandemic.
NTF chief and concurrent Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is also talking with PRC chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon and PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran on the issue.
Galvez noted that some issues in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) entered into by previous PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales with the PRC have to be threshed out first.
“We want to clarify the signed MOA because there was a change in prices. And the new president of PhilHealth just wanted to make sure that all is in order,” he said in yesterday’s virtual press briefing from Malacañang.
He added that once the Department of Budget and Management gives a favorable comment, the MOA would be followed to settle the concerns.
In a statement, PhilHealth said it “is in close coordination with PRC to thresh out the issue pertaining to the partnership so the PRC can immediately resume accommodating RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests for priority sectors that will be paid for by PhilHealth.”
It claimed that it has paid PRC a total of P1.6 billion for at least 433,263 laboratory tests as of last month.
But the PRC, in a statement, said that “PhilHealth failed to meet its obligation amounting to over P930 million as of Oct. 13.”
“One simply cannot turn a blind eye on the impact of receivable amount in the level of PhilHealth’s obligation,” the statement also reads.
The PRC explained that they already agreed to adjust the testing fees from P3,500 to only P3,409 “in the hope that by doing so, it would remove an obstacle in receiving the much-needed and very overdue payment for its past services.”
With no mention of any forthcoming payment as of Oct. 4., PRC decided to stop extending swab test for OFWs, including those arriving at the airport as well as those coming to mega facilities and local government units.
“This is a difficult decision, but the PRC does not have unlimited resources to replenish the testing kit for its laboratories unless PhilHealth, its major creditor, settles its lawful obligation to the PRC,” it said, noting that resources are needed to operate 21 laboratories capable of undertaking 42,000 tests per day.
It also said that PhilHealth never replenished a revolving fund of P100 million provided under the MOA between the two agencies. Supposedly, the fund would be replenished after it is depleted.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque asked the PRC for patience as he assured the public that government is working to resolve the issue. – Romina Cabrera, Neil Jayson Servallos