Guam - Although off-island, Legislative Committee on Finance and Taxation chairman Senator Ben Pangelinan is taking aim at the Guam Memorial Hospital's Board of Trustees and chairman Lee Webber along with Governor Eddie Calvo, calling their actions earlier this month against TakeCare Insurance "unnecessary and unwarranted".

Following a supplemental audit released last week by the Office of Public Accountability regarding GMH's billing and collections, Senator Pangelinan is raising criticism against the GMH trustees and the Calvo Administration for what he believes is unjust action toward TakeCare Insurance. According to the senator, the audit shows that TakeCare was unfairly targeted and without a valid reason.

He further criticized the trustees for performing no due diligence, but ultimately blames Governor Calvo, saying, "The governor stood by and watched silently while the actions of his appointed Board of Trustees damaged the reputation of a private business over a three-month period and instilled fear and doubt in the customers of TakeCare without a valid reason."

Governor Calvo says Pangelinan rather is misunderstood on the issue, announcing, "And I understand now that it is the election period and many months since then it's the primary and general election, so I guess Senator Pangelinan his wish is to make this a political issue."

Earlier this year, the GMH board voted to terminate a direct payer agreement with the insurance company. That decision was based on the company's denial of coverage and its rate of paying GMH, which reportedly was at $0.50 on every dollar. After weeks of negotiations between GMH and TakeCare, the decision was rescinded.

Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks meanwhile would not comment on Pangelinan's barbs against Calvo, but was informed from GMH that at the time they were dealing with administrative problems in the billings of TakeCare, where staff would have to put extra time and effort into collection. "I think overall whether the notice was premature or not, it shed light on an area that is most important is that GMH needs to be on top of it and we need to work with the different health insurance carriers so that GMH can get the greater portion of the money billed to these health insurance carriers," she said.

The senator meanwhile further alleges the board's action fell "suspiciously" during the health insurance proposal submission period between TakeCare and the federal government, which TakeCare has been providing for several years now.  He also alleges Webber's participation in a Guam Visitors Bureau and Guam Economic Development Authority-sponsored trip to Russia seems "a clear case of political payback".

Governor Calvo meanwhile refutes those claims and believes Pangelinan's comments are more devious than ever, saying, "I must says it's fairly malicious even more than what Ben's standards are usually at, and with that I'm just hopeful and I tell members of my administration that we have to pray for the fellow because obviously there's a lot of anger there."

Senator Pangelinan was unavailable for further comment as his office informed KUAM News that he would be off-island for another week for personal reasons.