MANILA – The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has increased the benefit package rate for hemodialysis to PHP4,000 from PHP2,600 per session, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.
In a statement, DOH Secretary and PhilHealth Board chair Teodoro Herbosa said the increase is aligned with the second State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. where he bared that dialysis is now free for the majority of Filipinos.
“The threat of kidney disease requires support not just in end-stage treatment, but in its prevention and early detection as well. These initiatives bring each Filipino closer to accessing the highest quality healthcare at the lowest cost,” he said.
The PhilHealth Board also approved the catheter insertion and blood transfusion payments that may be claimed separate from the main case rate for admission.
During its meeting on Friday, the PhilHealth Board en banc discussed the improvement of financial coverage for renal replacement therapy (RRT) which includes hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
RRT covers options for dialysis that treat kidney failure. However, these treatments cannot fully cure but only extend the lives of end-stage kidney failure patients.
The PhilHealth management will create a detailed PhilHealth Circular and operationalization to ensure that the improved benefit can already be claimed.
Herbosa said early detection of diseases like diabetes and hypertension that lead to chronic kidney disease are important.
The DOH is developing PuroKalusugan to enhance healthcare at the community level.
Meanwhile, PhilHealth is improving financial coverage for primary care through another iteration of the regular nationwide Konsulta package, aiming for a higher capitation rate, giving incentives for early disease detection and prevention services. (PNA)
