Commission on Audit

COA Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo was guest speaker during the induction ceremony for the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers 2020 National Officers and Directors held on 18 January 2020 at Seda Vertis North Hotel in Quezon City.
Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo and AMA University Chairman Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz V sign a Memorandum of Agreement for the provision of scholarship programs to employees of the Commission on 20 January 2020.
Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo and Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc with COA Officials during the Strategic Planning held at the Professional Development Center on 11 February 2020.
Former Assistant Commissioner Lourdes M. Castillo, Director Fortunata M. Rubico and Director Jonathan B. Beltran join resource persons from the Climate Change Commission during the Gender and Climate Change Orientation for the Commission on Audit on 3 to 4 March 2020.
Dr. Reynaldo O. Samson, from the Philippine National Police, discusses National Security, Local Security and Company Physical Security during the Symposium on Public Safety and Personal Security on 2 March 2020 at PIDS Auditorium.
Participants of the Advance Performance Audit Course held at the Professional Development Center on 10 February 2020.
COA Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo and COA Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc with Calamba Representative Joaquin M. Chipeco, Jr., Calamba City Mayor Justin Marc SB. Chipeco and COA Regional Office IV-A Director Mario G. Lipana lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Provincial Satellite Auditing Office in Calamba, Laguna on 11 February 2020.

COA joins celebration of National Women’s Month highlighting women’s participation in battling COVID-19 pandemic

Details: Published: 12 March 2021

The Commission on Audit (COA) joined the celebration of National Women’s Month (NWM) which highlights women’s participation in battling the COVID 19 pandemic with the additional theme “Juana Laban sa Pandemya: Kaya.”

The theme adds another dimension in this year’s campaign to focus on gender issues that became more prominent during the pandemic and women who have thrived despite the circumstances, among others. The 2017-2022 theme of the NWM celebration “WE Make CHANGE for Women” aims to inform and engage women as stakeholders making “change” a conscious effort, strengthen the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women through various gender and development (GAD) platforms and promote gender equality and women empowerment.

COA officials and personnel participate in the virtual opening program of the National Women’s Month celebration on 1 March 2021.

COA Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo said the challenges brought by the pandemic make advancing gender equality and women empowerment more important especially for the marginalized and vulnerable sectors. “COA has intensified the implementation of various programs to advance women empowerment. We continuously conduct capacity building programs that cater to the needs and concerns of every COA employee, believing that everyone deserves to be given a chance to realize their full potential regardless of gender,” he said.

COA: PhilHealth’s All Case Rate Payment Scheme sped up reimbursement process but lacked control mechanisms to detect and prevent improper payments

Details: Published: 08 March 2021

The Commission on Audit (COA) conducted a performance audit of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) All Case Rate (ACR) Payment Scheme covering the period since its implementation in 2011 until June 30, 2020.

Previously, PhilHealth utilized the Fee-for-Service payment scheme, health care institutions (HCIs) such as hospitals and clinics were reimbursed an amount based on the actual charges for the patient’s treatment. This led to delays in the reimbursement due to differences in rates and fees charged by each HCIs and the difficulty in validating such charges. In some instances, this also resulted in bloated charges.

Under the ACR Payment Scheme, PhilHealth pays all claims using a case rate which is a predetermined fixed rate for each covered case or disease. For example, natural childbirth has a case rate of ₱5,000, which will be paid uniformly among all HCIs. The result is that instead of undergoing the process of computing the reimbursements based on actual costs, the HCI will be reimbursed a fix amount, which may be more or less than the actual cost. The idea behind the ACR, which is utilized in other jurisdictions as well, is to incentivize HCIs to be more efficient. If the case rate for a specific treatment is lower than the actual cost, the HCI will try to be more efficient in the costing of the treatment. On the other hand, if the case rate is higher than the actual cost, the HCI gets to keep the difference as a form of “efficiency gains.”

New Office Space of the Performance Audit Office Inaugurated

Details: Published: 05 March 2021

The Commission on Audit (COA) inaugurated the new office space for its Performance Audit Office on 2 March 2021 as part of its project to strengthen performance auditing operations. Enhancing performance auditing enables the Commission to focus more on helping government agencies provide better services to the Filipino people.

COA Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo with Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc, Assistant Commissioner Alexander B. Juliano, Retired Director Emelita R. Quirante and OIC- Director Michael L. Racelis led the ribbon cutting ceremony during the office inauguration of the Performance Audit Office.

Retired Performance Audit Office (PAO) Director Emelita R. Quirante opened the ceremony by recounting the journey of the PAO which began with the Performance Audit Initiative, a partnership between COA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2016. While the journey was arduous at first, the Performance Audit Office is now here with a new home.

The Chairperson

The Commissioner

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