PhilHealth should be led by experts — Lacson

Senator and presidential aspirant Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday stressed that financial experts should take the helm of the embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) even as more hospitals threaten to sever ties with the state insurer due to its ballooning unpaid claims.

The lawmaker noted that instead of public health experts, it would be more efficient if the agency would be headed by individuals who know “accounting and fund management” due to the nature of its business.

He also pointed out that PhilHealth deals with finance and insurance which also makes the Department of Finance more viable in managing it rather than the Department of Health (DoH).

“What is wrong with PhilHealth? Everything,” Lacson said in a social media post.

“First, it should be headed by somebody who knows accounting and fund management, not a health practitioner, much less a former law enforcer or a retired general. Therefore, it should be chaired by the Secretary of Finance, not of DoH,” he added.

A total of seven hospitals in Iloilo City previously announced it would no longer renew its accreditation with PhilHealth due to the undisbursed claims amounting to P895-million.

These are the Iloilo Mission Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo, Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital, Medicus Medical Center, The Medical City of Iloilo, Qualimed Hospital Iloilo, and Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center Inc.

Meanwhile, PhilHealth on Tuesday urged private hospitals not to push through with its proposed five-day “PhilHealth holiday.”

“We hope that Private Hospitals Associations of the Philippines Inc. would rethink its call. In the end, those who will suffer are the members,” PhilHealth spokesperson Shirley Domingo said.