The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is set increase the number of covered outpatient hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156.
“Good news po ito sa ating dialysis patients dahil ngayong taon ay nakatakdang itaas ng PhilHealth ang bilang ng covered outpatient hemodialysis sessions. Mula 90 sessions ay magiging 156 na po ang covered,” PhilHealth acting president and chief executive officer Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr. said.
Ledesma emphasized that aside from dialysis, PhilHealth also covers renal replacement therapies.
“Ibinase po natin ang increase na ito sa standards ng adequate dialysis na nangangailangan ng tatlong 4-hour sessions kada linggo sa chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5 patients. Kaya naman sa pamamagitan ng increase na ito, masusuportahan na po natin ang buong tatlong sessions kada linggo sa loob ng isang buong taon,” he added.
The PhilHealth chief said the increase is part of the new and expanded benefits scheduled for rollout this year.
“Naka-schedule din po ngayong taon ang roll-out ng mga bagong benepisyong tulad ng outpatient mental health package at outpatient benefit package para sa severe acute malnutrition para sa mga batang edad 5 taon pababa,” he added.
Moreover, Ledesma emphasized that aside from dialysis, PhilHealth also covers renal replacement therapies.
“PhilHealth is providing P270,000 in financial support to patients who are on peritoneal dialysis or what we call PD-First,” he said.
“And for those who have organ donors, PhilHealth pays P600,000 for renal patients qualified under our Z Benefits for Kidney Transplantation. We urge our kidney patients to avail of these benefits to achieve better quality of life,” he added.
Meanwhile, the state insurer is also moving towards rationalizing select inpatient case rates. Among those set to be rationalized initially are moderate and high-risk pneumonia and acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.
“Under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos, patients can expect an improvement in the extent by which PhilHealth will pay for these conditions for these are the most common cases availed of by patients in recent years. Tutulong ang PhilHealth hanggang kaya dahil ang bawat buhay ay mahalaga,” Ledesma said.
