Under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s administration, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has increased the coverage for kidney transplant procedures by more than 230 percent, or from Php600,000 to PhP2 million.
The increased kidney transplant coverage is on top of other improvements in the PhilHealth benefits package, including expanded hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156 annually, meant to ease the out-of-pocket payments of Filipinos with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD).
President Marcos’ administration has significantly expanded the health benefit packages through PhilHealth, marking one of the most proactive efforts to enhance public healthcare coverage.
Under President Marcos’ directive, PhilHealth has enhanced the benefits for members with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5.
These improvements include increased maximum number of hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156 a year, which is equivalent to PhP990,600 under the new rate of PhP6,350 from the previous PhP4,000 per dialysis session; increased coverage for peritoneal dialysis up to PhP1.2 million; and increased coverage for kidney transplantation from PhP600,000 to PhP2 million under the Z benefits package.
This is the first time PhilHealth has increased the Z benefits package for kidney transplant procedures since the launch of the package in 2012.
The Z benefits packages cover catastrophic illnesses and health conditions such as cancer, which require expensive treatments and hospitalizations.
Under President Marcos’s administration, Filipinos with serious healthcare needs can now avail of PhilHealth’s new and expanded benefit packages.
The state health insurer has also launched improved benefit packages for ischemic heart disease-acute myocardial infarction covering various procedures related to heart attack treatment; and the outpatient emergency care benefit which provides comprehensive coverage for emergency services.
PhilHealth also introduced the 50-percent adjustment in case rates which applies to almost 9,000 benefit packages for all admissions starting January 1, 2025.
Last Thursday, President Marcos led the launching of PhilHealth’s new benefit package for post-kidney transplantation services at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City.
PhilHealth has offered two new support packages for adult and pediatric post-kidney transplant patients in further response to President Marcos’ directive to prioritize healthcare.
During a Palace press briefing, PhilHealth President and chief executive officer Edwin M. Mercado said the agency will strive to improve its benefit packages.
“Patuloy naming ipinatutupad ang adhikain ng ating mahal na presidente, si Pangulong Marcos, na bigyan ng pag-asa at bagong buhay ang mga Pilipinong nagtitiis sa kanilang mga dinaramdam,” Mercado said.
“Katuwang ng aming kalihim, Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, at ang ating NKTI Executive Director Dr. Dante Dator, hatid namin ang bagong benepisyong naglalayong ipagpatuloy ang alagang PhilHealth para sa mga pasyenteng sumailalim na ng kidney transplantation,” he said. | PND
