The embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) said on Friday, October 23, that it will pay its debt to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) this coming Monday, October 26.

In a statement on Friday night, October 23, PhilHealth said that it will release the payment, following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) legal opinion that the agreement between the state health insurer and the PRC is not subject to the procurement law.

The payment will be done “subject to completeness of billing requirements submitted by the PRC, and in compliance to COA (Commission on Audit) rules,” it said.

“This should enable the PRC to immediately resume its testing of swab specimen of concerned sectors which PhilHealth pays for,” the PhilHealth added.

The statement did not mention how much the PhilHealth will pay on Monday, but the PRC earlier stopped conducting free coronavirus tests for overseas Filipino workers, medical frontliners, and other Filipinos after the state health insurer incurred a P930-million ($19.14-million) debt to the PRC.

The Red Cross called off these tests because of PhilHealth’s “inability to settle its ever-increasing outstanding balance.”

Citing a legal opinion from the DOJ, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday that the PhilHealth must “provide partial payment” to PRC as Malacañang called on the organization to resume its testing services.

Meanwhile, PRC chairman Senator Richard Gordon said in a press briefing that PhilHealth must pay in full.

Under the Universal Health Care Law, the PhilHealth is designated as the “national purchaser” of health goods and services, which cover COVID-19 testing and treatment of all Filipinos.

In an interview with CNN Philippines on October 16, PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran explained that the reason why there were delays in reimbursements was because they found questionable items in the agency’s existing agreement with the PRC.

A Rappler investigative story published on September 15 revealed that the PhilHealth and the PRC entered into a contract deemed disadvantageous to the government, following the advance payment of P100 million ($2.05 million) for PRC’s COVID-19 tests. (READ: Did Gordon’s P100M Red Cross deal with PhilHealth violate laws?)

The PRC’s testing services make up a significant portion of the Philippine’s current testing capacity. The health department admitted on Wednesday, October 21, that the PhilHealth-PRC issue is affecting the country’s COVID-19 testing operations. – Rappler.com