Insurance Commission: Caritas Health Shield has sufficient assets

State-run Insurance Commission on Tuesday said that Caritas Health Shield policy holders should not be worried about their plans, but also said that it has yet to verify a claim that the health management organization has a deficit of P7 billion.

IC Commissioner Dennis Funa said that as of June 30, 2017, the HMO has total assets of P8.2 billion and a capital deficiency of P150 million.

"Therefore, as it stands, Caritas has sufficient assets to cover its liabilities," he said at a press conference.

Issues about Caritas' financial stability cropped up after its former president, Teodoro Jumamil, said in a newspaper report that the firm has a deficiency of as much as P7 billion in its actuarial reserves as of last year.

"On the alleged actuarial deficiency in the amount of P7 billion, this has yet to be verified by the Insurance Commission based on the company's audited financial reports, including the actuarial valuation report,"  Funa said.

"To date, Caritas has not yet submitted both its financial statement and actuarial valuation report for the year 2016. Thus, the verification process has yet to be commenced," he added.

Despite Funa's saying the IC has not yet begun working to verify the P7-billion deficit claim, he also said: "Wala kaming nakikita na P7 billion na nawawala, so wala dapat ikabahala ang mga policy holder ng Caritas. Walang basehan para sabihing dapat matakot sila. Wala po kaming nakikita base sa sinubmit na financial statements ng Caritas."

Jumamil, who was reportedly removed in December 2016 after he got into a squabble with other shareholders, also said some of Caritas' insurance products were "too good to be true."

Funa said that Caritas stopped selling its "gold plan," which gives a planholder insurance coverage for 10 years with a promised rebate of 70 percent of his payments, in 2016.

The IC official advised Jumamil to expound on his claim of a P7-billion deficit and urged the Caritas shareholders to settle their dispute amicably.

"I just hope that the stockholders will be able to settle their squabble among themselves. Kung hindi sila magkasundo, their recourse is to go to the courts. The task of the Insurance Commission is to protect the policyholders and that's we are doing right now," Funa said.

The IC assumed regulatory and supervisory powers over HMOs from the Department of Health last year in compliance with Executive Order 192 signed by former President Benigno Aquino III on November 12, 2015. — BM, GMA News