The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) revealed that the tests chargeable to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) costs PHP25 million a day.

This means that Philhealth has now a standing debt to the PRC of about PHP623 million, PRC chairman Senator Richard Gordon told ABS-CBN News.

Gordon said that as of November 6, the state insurer has paid PHP700 million to the PRC.

“It’s a moving target… We are consuming about PHP25 million a day in testing, it keeps moving and moving,” he added.

The senator said that under the agreement PhilHealth should pay at least three days after the billing has been made, but it’s not happening just yet.

“Right now, they’re averaging practically nine days sometimes even 12 days before they pay,” Gordon noted.

Gordon said that despite the assurances made by PhilHealth Chief Dante Gierran, the big problem now is the bureaucracy in the agency.

“It’s bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is really, I think they’re trying. There are many good people. But of course, in the past, they were liberal with the money, and a lot of money was lost,” Gordon said.