Task force on oxygen supply formed

MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the creation of a task force that will focus on the augmentation of oxygen supply in the country amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

This was contained in the IATF-EID’s Resolution 138 approved on Thursday.

The Task Force on Oxygen Supply, which will be under the National Task Force Against Covid-19, will be chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry and co-chaired by the Department of Health (DOH).

Other members include the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Energy, Philippine Ports Authority, Bureau of Customs, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and other concerned local government units.

The task force, according to the IATF-EID’s latest resolution, should “design and implement relevant policies in relation to the oxygen supply of the country”.

Meantime, the IATF-EID also decided to leave the nationwide applicability of the debit-credit scheme of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the “sound business judgment” of the corporation’s board.

The task force reached the decision after it rescinded “in part” Resolution 111 issued on April 22 which authorizes the application of PhilHealth’s debit-credit payment method (DCPM) in all “high and critical risk” areas for Covid-19.

Under the PhilHealth Circular 2021-004 dated April 8, the use of DCPM is approved to facilitate the settlement of accounts payable to health care facilities (HCFs) to ensure the smooth delivery of health care services during the state of public health emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The PhilHealth circular applies to in-process claims from accredited HCFs treating Covid-19 patients and facilities providing the PhilHealth Covid-19 testing package, with no unliquidated interim reimbursement mechanism fund balances on record, and whose accreditation is not currently suspended.

In-process claims already approved for payment, as of April 7 this year, are not covered by the circular.

The IATF-EID, in its latest resolution, also allowed the clinical rotation of post-graduate interns, regardless of community quarantine status.

Post-graduate interns, however, are mandated to follow the guidelines that will be issued by the Commission on Higher Education and DOH.