MANILA — Secretary of Health and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) Board Chair Teodoro J. Herbosa, upon the direction of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and with the suggestion of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, made it the priority of the PhilHealth Board of Directors to increase the Corporation’s package rate for hemodialysis to P4,000 per session.
The PhilHealth Board, upon the recommendation of Benefits Committee Chairperson OIC Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo, approved this increase from the current P2,600 per session. The Board also gave explicit approval for catheter insertion and blood transfusion payments that may be claimed separately from the main case rate for admission. This aligns with the 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., where he stated that dialysis is now free for the majority of Filipinos.
In its Regular Meeting today, the PhilHealth Board en banc discussed improving financial coverage for Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT), which includes Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis. The next step will be a detailed PhilHealth Circular and operationalization by PhilHealth Management to ensure that the improved benefit can already be claimed.
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. Consequently, the President’s vision as articulated by Secretary Herbosa encompasses not only end-stage treatments, but also preventive care and early detection of diseases like diabetes and hypertension that lead to Chronic Kidney Disease.
In conjunction with the President’s vision, the Department of Health (DOH) is also developing PuroKalusugan with the goal to enhance healthcare at the community level. On their end, PhilHealth is also 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.
These are consistent with the thrust of the House of Representatives Committee on Health to improve the services of the health finance institution. During a hearing of the committee last May 15, 2024, Rep. Stella A. Quimbo called for PhilHealth to improve its financial coverage of health services to protect Filipinos from becoming poor due to health service use.
“We are encouraged by the guidance of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., and House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez to pursue safe, high-quality, and people-centered services for all 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 dahil sa Bagong Pilipinas, Bawat Buhay Mahalaga,” expressed Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa. (DOH)
