CNN Philippines (Metro Manila, August 19) — The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation was able to settle its payables to Philippine Red Cross for the coronavirus tests it processed, a Department of Health official said Wednesday.
“Actually, kahapon naipadala na sa kanila ‘yung balance. Pinadala na ng PhilHealth sa kanila,” DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire told the media in an online forum. The amount paid was not mentioned.
[Translation: Yesterday, PhilHealth sent the money they owe to Red Cross.]
On Sunday, PhilHealth spokesperson Shirley Domingo said they have received separate billings worth P700 million from Red Cross, but noted they have already paid P504 million to the organization.
Vergeire said she recognizes the role of Red Cross in the country’s current testing capacity, as 40 percent of the tests are conducted by their laboratories.
The organization’s COVID-19 testing facilities process the RT-PCR or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests of returning overseas Filipino workers.
The official said they are continuously coordinating with the state-run health insurance company to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
