"Hellth" by Vincent Flores
So this is where your contributions went.
Another Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) corruption has surfaced recently after the agency’s board member Alejandro Cabading revealed its over-funded Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Project through a Senate hearing, as well as anomalies in the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) – funds that were supposed to be given to hospitals and clinics amid COVID-19 pandemic.
(READ: https://rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/cheat-sheet-alleged-philhealth-anomalies-uncovered-congress-probes)
This was then followed by another fraudulent scheme unmasked by its former auditing system specialist Ken Sarmiento in the midst of PhilHealth corruption probe, where it is said that over two million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) lost their premium contributions after being issued with fake PhilHealth receipts.
PhilHealth has always been one of the most notorious Philippine agencies when it comes to corruption issues with the Cataract surgery scam in 2015 and the excessive travel allowances of former interim chief Celestina de la Serna in 2017. Although these issues were apparently “resolved” by the government and the agency, many Filipinos can’t help but wonder where their contributions really go.
Growing up, I was always baffled at how costly my mother’s taxes and contributions were. She worked in the accounting department at a small company, and as a kid who likes bothering her mother while she works, I got to see how her salary was computed. Back then I was taught that these contributions were used to fund agencies so that they could work for the betterment of our lives, but as it turns out, we’re getting less to nothing than what we should receive.
Our family did not have enough money for hospital treatments, so we tended to “self-medicate” whenever we were sick. My parents worked hard day through night, just so that they could still take home money for our big family’s food and other needs despite those salary deductions.
In this pandemic-stricken country we live today where many people lost their jobs, are suffering from hunger and struggling to survive or escape the deadly virus, an issue of corruption is not what we should be hearing. Especially in a time when health is an utmost priority, this state-run health insurance agency has, yet again, disappointed and angered many Filipinos.
Imagine if the contributions our workforce provided to this agency actually helped in our healthcare system. Or what if Filipino families used the stolen funds instead for sustenance, or to go to a hospital to get treated when they get sick? Maybe poverty-stricken families wouldn’t have to rely to self-medication, and Filipinos could actually maximize the use of contributions they worked so hard to pay for.
As a college student, it is terrifying to imagine myself entering the workforce, with my future job, not knowing that my contributions are only being enjoyed by the powerful and privileged rather than those who really need it. As the Congress investigates this issue, we hope that Filipinos will really be able to find out where their PhilHealth contributions went, and that the people behind those schemes will be punished accordingly. – Maureen Basa
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