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Cebu City hospital denies involvement in 'Covid-19 claim fraud'

By Carlo Lorenciana

October 30, 2020, 6:26 pm

<p><strong>FRAUD INVESTIGATION.</strong> Eight officials from the Central Visayas regional office of state-run insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. are among those facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas in an alleged Covid-19 patient claim fraud. The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas also filed complaints on Thursday (Oct. 29. 2020) against four employees of a privately owned hospital in Cebu City. <em>(File photo)</em></p>

FRAUD INVESTIGATION. Eight officials from the Central Visayas regional office of state-run insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. are among those facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas in an alleged Covid-19 patient claim fraud. The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas also filed complaints on Thursday (Oct. 29. 2020) against four employees of a privately owned hospital in Cebu City. (File photo)

CEBU CITY – A private hospital in this city on Friday denied allegations that some of its employees were involved in fraudulent activities with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in Central Visayas.

The Perpetual Succour Hospital Inc. (PSHI) issued the statement a day after four personnel from its Financial Management and Services (FMS) were among those facing complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas. Others include eight officials from PhilHealth-7.

The cases were filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Central Visayas on Thursday after its fact-finding team alleged the hospital connived with some PhilHealth-7 officials in upcasing a deceased patient’s case to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

In a media statement signed by its legal officer Jose Ray Bael, PSHI assured that no irregularities were made in processing the claim of what was referred to as Patient X, saying it was based on the medical diagnosis of its doctors.

“The claim was supported by medical records submitted to PhilHealth and passed scrutiny and applicable criteria set by PhilHealth circulars and guidelines,” PSHI said.

In a separate statement on Thursday, PhilHealth-7 also said its officials have not violated any policies in processing Patient X’s Covid-19 claim.

PhilHealth-7 and PSHI both criticized the NBI-7’s abrupt move to publicly announce its decision to file complaints before the Ombudsman.

“It is unfortunate, however, that NBI-7 intended a public announcement of the filing of cases against four PSHI officers and personnel for alleged fraudulent PhilHealth claim before they are furnished a copy of the alleged complaint and given the opportunity to answer the accusations,” PSHI said.

"This inevitably tarnishes the integrity and reputation of the Regional Office and its employees, and leads to further social media backlash that does not distinguish between guilty and innocent,” PhilHealth-7 said.

PSHI said it will be filing a detailed factual and legal counter-statement before the Ombudsman to prove "their innocence and total absence of fraud or malice in the preparation and submission of the PhilHealth claim for Patient X". (PNA)

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