Treñas finds Philhealth ‘inefficient’

By Herbert Vego

ON our radio program “Tribuna sang Banwa” on Aksyon Radyo last Sunday, I unburdened before Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas my observation about the laxity of Philhealth in responding to hospitalized Covid-19 patients, citing my own 12-day ordeal.

“It shocked me to learn,” I told the mayor, “that I could not charge my anti-viral medicines to Philhealth. And so I had no choice but to agree to pay the cost of the expensive Remdesivir and Pavipiravir.  I also had to buy even the cheaper Ivermectin capsules.”

I also had to sign a waiver absolving the doctor and the hospital of accountability in exchange for my agreement to take Remdesivir and Favipiravir.

Remdesivir (injectable) costs more or less P8,000 per dose or ten times as much for the recommended ten doses.

What if people who died in the hospitals could have survived, given the right medicines?

If truth be told, Big Pharma would profit much more from vaccines administered worldwide than from drugs given only to the already Covid-sick.

It is unfortunate that the above-mentioned drugs, even if proven effective in most cases, have not been approved for anti-Covid dispensation by the World Health Administration and our Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and so could not be charged to Philhealth.

Where is logic there? Vaccines are not FDA-approved and are also classified under “emergency use authorization” and yet are available to everybody. Why not apply the same standard to medicines that have already been proven effective?

I could not say that the mayor fully agreed with me, but he expressed his disgust over the heavily-indebted Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth).

“Philhealth is one of the most inefficient government agencies,” Mayor Treñas complained. ”Out of the more than 100 million pesos that it owes the Uswag Molecular Laboratory, it has paid only three million.”

Utang na! Utang na sa private hospitals has hit billions of pesos na kuno.

Some hospital claims, however, could be in danger of being denied. Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives questioned PhilHealth Circular No. 2021-008, which states that suspect or probable COVID-19 cases would only be covered by “intermediate” packages of either P18,000 for moderate cases or P38,000 for severe cases. Released in June 2021, the circular would be implemented retroactively on patient cases from late November 2020 onwards.

Aha, this could soon spark another bombshell against the Department of Health (DOH). Why?

It’s because previously, benefit packages were classified into four categories: Mild – P43,997; moderate – P143,267; severe pneumonia – P333,519; and critical – P786,384

Philhealth, a tax-exempt, government-owned and controlled corporation of the Philippines, is attached to the DOH, which the Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged over the missing pandemic funds worth over ₱67 billion.

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PARTNERS IN POWER FOUNDATION IS ONE YEAR OLD

“In times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.”

The quotation from the Black Panther inspired MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to launch the Partners in Power Foundation one year ago, specifically on August 25, 2020, aimed at helping Iloilo City rise above the difficulties in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To quote MORE Power President Roel Z. Castro, “By ourselves, we can do so much. But together, we can do MORE.”

The first anniversary of this foundation brings to mind the commemoration of the city’s Charter Day, its 84^th anniversary on Wednesday, August 25, 2021.

It was on August 25, 1937 when then-President Manuel Luis Quezon signed Commonwealth Act 158 declaring Iloilo a charter city. The law likewise abolished the towns of  Molo, Arevalo, Jaro, Mandurriao and Lapaz to merge them with the old city. More on this next week.

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DOC NANAY TESTS POSITIVE

WE could hardly believe our ears on hearing that Cong. Janette Loreto Garin (1^st Dist., Iloilo) has tested positive for Covid-19.

Until she felt unwell last Wednesday, the physician-legislator – known to radio listeners as “Doc Nanay” – had been personally jabbing vaccines to her constituents.

The unexpected development has spawned mixed reactions in social media. Having completed two doses of the vaccine, she was presumed safe from catching coronavirus.

“Does that not prove,” a skeptical FB post read, “that the vaccinated are not immune from Covid-19?”

In her own FB page, however, Cong Janette posted: “It is fortunate that I am fully vaccinated. I can sleep soundly with the hope that this will not be severe despite my pre-existing conditions. I am confident that a trip to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will not be part of my COVID-19 experience.

“I am one of the many Filipinos living with comorbidities. I am asthmatic, hypertensive, and living with Raynauds Disease. But these do not hinder me from continuing my work which entails meeting and serving people. This also means that I am exposed to many people that may or may not be infected with COVID-19. Idagdag pa natin ang kakulangan sa pahinga at tulog na nakakapagpababa ng resistensya which makes me an easy target of the COVID-19 virus.”

Hers is not a serious case, considering that although she has fever, colds and cough, her senses of taste and smell remain okay.

Let us pray for Cong. Nanay’s speedy recovery.