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The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) said Thursday it will halt testing for Covid-19 by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation after the state health insurance agency failed to settle its outstanding balance of more than 1,000. millions of pesos.
The People’s Republic of China continues to face challenges with PhilHealth due to its inability to clear its payment, the People’s Republic of China said, and is obligated to stop testing by PhilHealth as of October 14, 2020.
“As a result, the total billing sent by the PRC to PhilHealth amounts to P1,014,975,500.00 as of October 13, 2020. Of this amount, P930,993,000.00 represents amounts past due,” the PRC said in a statement.
The People’s Republic of China said it will no longer accept samples for the following PhilHealth-funded tests:
- Filipino workers abroad
- those arriving at airports and seaports
- Individuals through mega smear facilities and local government units
- Frontline health and government workers
- Others included in the expanded testing guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH) as per its Department Memorandum No. 2020-0258-A dated July 6, 2020 covered by PhilHealth.
OFWs Covid testing to continue
Malacañang, however, assured that Covid testing for returning OFWs will continue.
“Although a quarter of our tests are performed by the People’s Republic of China, we have many other licensed RT-PCR and GeneXpert labs,” Roque said at an online press conference.
He noted that there are currently 112 RT-PCR laboratories and 35 GeneXpert laboratories, which are authorized by the Department of Health (DOH) to analyze Covid-19 samples.
Roque said the government will try to address the matter as soon as possible, as PRC conducts about a quarter of Covid-19 sample testing in the country.
“We need PRC if we are to reach our goal of 10 million tests,” Roque said.
As of October 14, 2020, Roque said the government could already perform 3.9 million tests.
In charge of the main implementation of the government’s national policy on Covid-19, Carlito Gálvez, they are now working to sign a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) with PRC to allow the resumption of Covid-19 testing.
PRC testing continues
The People’s Republic of China said it will continue to test the following:
1. People who booked their tests through the PRC Helpline 1158 or online at book.redcross1158.com;
2. Private companies and organizations; Y
3. Units of local government and other government agencies with laboratory testing agreements with the People’s Republic of China and whose payments are current.
The People’s Republic of China said that stopping PhilHealth-funded Covid testing “is a difficult decision for a humanitarian organization like the People’s Republic of China to make, but it must be made.”
“The People’s Republic of China does not have unlimited resources to replenish test kits for its laboratories unless PhilHealth, its main creditor, resolves its legal obligations to the People’s Republic of China,” said the People’s Republic of China.
The People’s Republic of China said that it needs the resources to purchase test kits and reagents from China. Each of the orders requires around USD 6 million per order.
“The People’s Republic of China cannot commit to these requests unless it has the finances to pay for them. This is what makes PhilHealth’s settlement of your outstanding obligations critical. According to the MOA, a P100 million revolving fund was supposed to be replenished immediately after it had been depleted. PhilHealth never replenished this revolving fund, ”said the People’s Republic of China.
The People’s Republic of China said it had to draw from its own funds for testing services due to PhilHealth’s non-payment.
In addition to test kits, the People’s Republic of China also needs resources to operate its twenty-one (21) laboratories in strategic areas of the country capable of testing 42,000 tests per day. This will be further expanded in the coming days, as the People’s Republic of China is already establishing molecular laboratories in Isabela, Passi, Surigao, each with a capacity to test 2,000 tests per day.
In addition, the People’s Republic of China has to pay more than 300 medical technologists, swabs, coders and pathologists, and provide them with their personal protective equipment, periodic tests and even meals, accommodation and transportation to be able to carry out tests on such a massive scale and maintain 24/7 operations of your laboratories.
PhilHealth Agreement
The People’s Republic of China entered into an agreement with PhilHealth for the latter to reimburse the People’s Republic of China for these priority tests requested by various government agencies. Unfortunately, PhilHealth did not meet its obligations.
“One simply cannot turn a blind eye to the impact of an amount receivable on the level of PhilHealth’s obligations with respect to the working capital of any commercial enterprise, specifically, its ability to replenish materials and supplies needed in its operations. processing. and their stakeholders will ask what the People’s Republic of China is doing to raise money from PhilHealth. “
He added that the different levels of management of the People’s Republic of China are in constant communication with their counterparts requesting and monitoring the payment, since the last PhilHealth payment was made on September 8, 2020.
“Not a penny has been paid since then.”
On September 25, 2020, Senator Richard J. Gordon, President of PRC, met with PhilHealth President and CEO Atty. Dante A. Gierran, DOH Secretary and PhilHealth President, Francisco T. Duque III and Secretary Vivencio Dizon.
During the meeting, Atty. Gierran reiterated PhilHealth’s intention to pay his obligations, but asked for time to settle into his new position.
Atty. Gierran also requested that the People’s Republic of China adjust its trial rate to P 3,409.00 from the current P 3,500.00. Gordon then agreed and asked for a written request.
“A request by letter for the reduced payment was received on October 6, 2020, sadly with no mention of any upcoming payments. The People’s Republic of China formalized its consent to the request for a fee reduction in the hope that doing so would remove an obstacle to receiving much-needed and long-overdue payment for its past services. No payment has been made to date. “
The People’s Republic of China noted that they are not only at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, but also respond to major disasters across the country and that if their finances are compromised in any way, thousands of lives will be affected when major disasters occur. our people. This should not be the case.
Previously, the People’s Republic of China reached a milestone in the fight against Covid-19 with 1,000,000 on October 6, 2020, representing 26 percent of the national test production.
