Vice presidential candidate Willie Ong on Tuesday volunteered to lead the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) as the agency continues facing controversies over unpaid reimbursements to hospitals.
Ong, in an interview with DZRH, said there are only two solutions for PhilHealth's dilemma.
"Simple lang yan, dalawa lang ang solusyon. Lagyan ng pera 'yang PhilHealth na 'yan para magbayad," he said.
(That’s simple. There are only two solutions. Put money in PhilHealth so they can pay.)
"Saka maglagay tayo ng taong matalino, vino-volunteer ko na sarili ko na ako na aayos diyan," he said.
(And then let us put smart people there. I volunteer myself, I’ll fix it.)
According to Ong, PhilHealth really put burden on hospitals on paperwork over a couple of potentially wrong or illicit claims.
"Sa tingin ko hindi 'yun ang issue, oo nga merong maling claims, may mga illegal claims, pero hindi dahil meron kang konting mali doon, ay 'yung buong ospital hindi mo na babayaran. Papano aandar yung ospital?" he said.
(I don’t think that’s the issue. Yes, there are wrong claims, there are illegal claims. But just because there are a couple of mistakes, you will no longer pay the entire hospital. How will the hospital operate?)
PhilHealth over the past months have been pressured by private hospitals to pay for reimbursements.
The health insurance agency has already initiated an Debit Credit Payment Method to expedite reimbursement claims, but some private hospitals have refused this over concerns that the scheme favors PhilHealth more.
