MANILA, Philippines — The country's embattled state insurer on Thursday said other COVID-19 testing laboratories could shoulder in the meantime the samples which the Philippine Red Cross will no longer accept over an issue with the agency's multi-million unpaid balance.
Red Cross had announced that it will stop its coronavirus tests funded by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. in a blow to the country's screening capacity, a "difficult decision" to make that is seen to affect many.
The private-run organization has done over a million screenings out of the four million Filipinos tested in laboratories accredited by the health department. And with its recent move, Red Cross said it will no longer test specimens of OFWs, medical and government workers, as well as those in mega swabbing facilities to name a few.
"PhilHealth recognizes the Philippine Red Cross as an important partner in the Government’s drive to curb Covid-19 through intensive targeted testing," the agency said in a statement.
Officials added that they are in talks with the Red Cross to "thresh out issues" for testing efforts to resume. But such may not be quickly resolved with the organization saying it owes them P930 million in overdue amount which will be used for buying test kits and reagents from Beijing.
"Each of these orders require about $6 million per order," Red Cross said. "The PRC cannot commit to these orders unless it has the finances to pay. This is what makes PhilHealth's settlement of its outstanding obligations critical."
The agency, however, said that they have already paid Red Cross a total of P1.6 billion for more than 433,000 tests as of September.
Chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. at a Palace briefing said laboratories such as those at the J.B. Lingad Memorial Hospital, Lung Center and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine could receive the samples supposedly for the Red Cross facilities.
Latest figures from the health department showed that the country has 147 accredited testing facilities, or 112 RT-PCR and 35 GeneXpert laboratories.
Malacañang has since apologized for the incident, with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque admitting that PhilHealth still has its internal problems.
Allegations of corruption in the agency surmounted at a time when the country is reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, with officials said to have amassed some P15 billion in questionable deals. PhilHealth's new president and CEO, lawyer Dante Gierran, has since been given until the end of the year by President Rodrigo Duterte to rid the agency of corruption.
The Philippines now has a total of 348,698 coronavirus infections, with officials reporting 2,261 new cases on Thursday, October 15. The death toll stands at 6,479, with recoveries now at 294,161.