By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Office of the President recently ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to take action on reported fraudulent activities by the Cataract Foundation, which includes the alleged widespread recruitment of cataract patients.

According to a letter sent by anti-corruption and criminality group Task Force Kasanag (TFK), Assistant Secretary Jaime Laguno Mabilin said the head of the Presidential Complaint Center ordered an investigation into the matter by the DOH.

In the letter, it was suggested DOH should take “appropriate action.”

An initial complaint from TFK National Commander John Chiong claimed three doctors, whose identities are being withheld amid the pending investigation, allegedly paid social workers for “ferrying” Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) members to undergo cataract surgery.

Social workers were reportedly paid between P500 and P1,000 per patient.

The letter said the workers referred to themselves as the Cataract Foundation.

The scheme is intended to have cataract surgeries conducted in order for claims to be made through the government healthcare provider. Patients were said to have been screened for surgery at Riverside Medical Center, where they were then referred to clinics operated by the said physicians.

Chiong pointed out, all expenses were charged to PhilHealth, with the patients being charged extra in most cases.

“This is a fraud,” he declared. “The Cataract Foundation should pay for all expenses, but, in this case, it is PhilHealth and the patient who pay.”

Last year, a congressional hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability revealed some hospital physicians allegedly collected excessive amounts in PhilHealth claims for unnecessary procedures, with the Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Bacolod City named as one of the involved hospitals.

According to a PTV report, doctors at the said hospital allegedly recommended patients undergo cataract surgery even if it was not necessary./DGB, WDJ