The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Tuesday, Sept. 26, assured the public that no personal or medical information of its members was compromised after it had been hit by the Medusa ransomware over the weekend.

“It’s also good to note na sa ating initial assessment ay wala naman pong naging leak. Pagdating sa personal information and medical information [ng members] ay wala pong na-compromise,” PhilHealth Spokesperson Dr. Ish Pargas told DZRH.

He said their head office and around 72 workstations in Metro Manila were affected by the hacking incident, which led the state health insurer to shut down its systems.

“We deemed it necessary to shut down all our systems para po ma-diagnose natin kung hanggang saan ang extent ng effect nitong information incident na ito,” Pargas said.

Online to manual shift in operations

The PhilHealth Spokesperson cautioned members about the possible delay in the processing of PhilHealth’s services following its temporary shift from online to manual operations.

He also urged members to bring their respective PhilHealth IDs or member data records for over-the-counter payments of their contributions.

“Hindi po mach-check sa system [ang kanilang] mga pangalan so ina-advice natin na magdala ng PhilHealth ID o yun pong member data record [...] pero patuloy pa rin po ang ating operasyon,” Pargas said, noting that the directive must also be observed by patients seeking to claim their benefits.

“We are hoping po na by today ay meron nang ilang systems na mai-up tayo para po bumalik na po sa normal na operasyon ang PhilHealth,” he said.