Red Cross resumes swab test after Philhealth’s partial payment

The PRC has a total of 44 machines for the RT-PCR tests all over the country and 22 of them are in Metro Manila. (File Photo: Philippine Red Cross/Facebook)

MANILA – The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has resumed its coronavirus swab tests after it received partial payment from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Tuesday.

PRC Chairman Senator Richard Gordon made this announcement in an online media briefing on Tuesday evening.

“I have requested the Secretary-General (Elizabeth Zavalla) and all our laboratories in the entire country to open it to PhilHealth again and we are going to have testing tonight (Oct. 27) from the Manila International Airport first and tomorrow (Oct.

28) regular testing will be conducted in full,” said Gordon.

On Tuesday, PhilHealth released some PHP500 million as partial payment for its PHP930-million debt to the PRC.

Gordon clarified that the total debt of PhilHealth to the PRC has already reached PHP1.1 billion.

“We’re going to ask them to pay right away and then lahat ng mga bagong test within three days they get the billing and they pay right away di na kami papayag na lalaki ng ganyan natakot ako talaga, ang laki ng amount pag hindi nabayaran yan babagsak kami (All the new tests should be paid within three days because I will no longer allow the debt to balloon that much. It’s frightening because if they don’t pay us, we will close),” Gordon explained.

Also, Gordon said PhilHealth communicated to the PRC its desire to pay an advance payment of PHP100 million.

Gordon said he is amenable to that as long as the full balance is paid by PhilHealth.

“Mauuna silang magbigay ng PHP100 million uubusin namin hanggang PHP70 million, pag PHP30 million na lang dadagdagan ulit nila ng PHP70 million, revolving yun (they will give an advance payment of PHP100 million, we will consume up to PHP70 million, leaving a balance of PHP30 million that they have to top up again with PHP70 million. That is a revolving fund),” Gordon said.

Before that revolving fund, however, Gordon said the rest of the PHP1.1 billion should be paid by PhilHealth first.

The PRC has a total of 44 machines for the RT-PCR tests all over the country and 22 of them are in Metro Manila.

He said he wants to bring the cost of the test down and hopes that the saliva testing will soon be approved, saying this will further bring down the cost of the swab test.