There is only one way to purge the corruption-rigged Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and that it to totally cleanse its ranks and start with a clean slate.
To achieve this, everyone in the higher echelon of the state-run health insurance agency, those holding key positions, and those involved in the anomalies, must tender their courtesy resignation. That’s the solution President Rodrigo Duterte came up with. The purge will start from the top, the PhilHealth board members and regional vice presidents amid its reported funding of bogus kidney dialysis treatments.
President Duterte is saddened by the anomalies as it came when the government is serious on getting across the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act (UHC) which was signed into law last March. The Universal Health Care (UHC) law (Republic Act No. 11223) automatically enrols all Filipino citizens in the National Health Insurance Program and prescribes complementary reforms in the health system. This gives citizens access to the full continuum of health services they need, while protecting them from enduring financial hardship as a result.
PhilHealth hit a wall with the anomalies on bogus kidney dialysis treatments and a through and independent investigation is needed to uncover the conspiracy and identify the characters involved in the anomalous transactions. It is imperative that to be able to cleanse the agency, those holding vital positions must steer clear of the ongoing probe. Now, if the President feels thew need to bring in new personalities to lead the agency and hold those positions asked to be vacated, then everyone must respect and heed the order as it is a necessary incident of change.
The anomalies in PhilHealth rendered a blow to the agency which had been saddled with controversies.
The only way that PhilHealth will roll smoothly the next time it is put on the road is for the agency to be fitted with new wheels and the old, bad ones discarded.
