(Eagle News) –Many cases against healthcare institutions and PhilHealth employees have not been formally filed yet.
Rodolfo del Rosario Jr., who recently resigned as senior vice president for PhilHealth’s legal unit, told PhilHealth’s task force on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that of the 1700 cases in PhilHealth’s case inventory involving healthcare institutions, his office reviewed and endorsed 1003 to be filed as criminal complaints by the regional offices, but only 11 have so far been formally filed.
Losses related to the cases involving healthcare institutions were estimated at P4.7 billion, the task force said.
According to Del Rosario, of the thousands of administrative cases against PhilHealth employees in the state insurer’s case inventory, 70 have been “processed,” while 50 have resulted in the issuance of formal charges against employees.
One case, he said, involved P2.1 billion.
In explaining what the task force said was the low and slow rate of prosecution, Del Rosario said that management policy favored settlement over prosecution in order not to dampen morale.
He noted what he said were limitations in resources of regional offices that prevent them from filing criminal complaints against healthcare institutions in particular.
Earlier, the task force created a composite team that will probe PhilHealth’s legal department.
“The team will, among others, audit and validate the case inventory of PhilHealth, and recommend, if warranted, the commencement of administrative , civil and/or criminal action against the corporation’s employees and HCIs,” Justice spokesperson Markk Perete said.