PRC demands full payment before resuming swabs
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is demanding full payment of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)’s debt before it agrees to resume COVID-19 testing that would be chargeable to the state insurer.
According to PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon, their collectible from PhilHealth now amounts to P1.1 billion. This is up from the P930-million debt that prompted the PRC to stop doing PhilHealth-sponsored swab tests on overseas Filipino workers and frontliners for free early this month.
“They have to pay the full amount… It’s not that we no longer want to test. We hardly have testing kits anymore,” he said at a press conference.
In a statement last night, PhilHealth promised to pay on Monday but did not say if the payment would be in full or partial.
Earlier, Malacañang announced that it would settle 50 percent of PhilHealth’s debt by next week.
Gordon yesterday emphasized that PRC is a humanitarian organization that hardly has the capability to shoulder the cost of testing, pegged at P3,500 per swab test, the cheapest compared to other laboratories.
He noted that from 11,000 to 12,000 swab tests per day, their testing capacity already went down to 1,000 to 2,000 per day.
Gordon added that they had arranged a chartered flight to pick up the testing kits from China but had to hold it off as they did not have the budget to pay for the kits.
“I want to haggle for a lower price. But how can I do this if we don’t even have money to pay,” he pointed out.
Gordon said he is hopeful PhilHealth’s debt can be paid by tomorrow or Monday so that PRC can get the test kits from China.
“Pay your debt first because no organization will survive, ( it’s) P1.1 billion. This P900 million and business is shaky already,” he added.
But Malacañang assured the PRC that the government is not reneging on its promise to settle PhilHealth obligations.
“The President has given his commitment that the government will pay its obligation to the Philippine Red Cross,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said.
He said that based on a legal opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ), PhilHealth may provide partial payment to the PRC while their memorandum of agreement is undergoing review. – With Christina Mendez, Evelyn Macairan