Philippine Health Insurance looking into possibility of expanding dialysis coverage

In this file photo, a patient receives dialysis at a clinic. (AP)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is studying a proposal to increase the price of its dialysis packages to P5,200 per session to include coverage of medications required during the dialysis process.

Philippine Health Insurance Executive Vice President Eli Dino Santos said in an interview after a meeting with ACT-CIS party representative Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday that they will look into increasing the sum insured per insurance policy — currently at P2,600.

Santos made the remarks after Tulfo pointed out that the hemodialysis drugs used in the procedure cost about 900 to 1,500 pesos per bottle.

“So now, through the efforts of our Secretary Elvin Tulfo, Philippine Health Insurance will look into increasing (coverage) to P5,200. We will study it and give us a month to study it. Then, we can cover all medicines. This is our goal and this is the directive of Secretary Elvin Tulfo,” Santos told reporters during a briefing at the Batasan Pambanza Building.

“Our goal is to get dialysis patients out of pocket (…) As for the specifics of the medication, I don’t have the data, but they typically purchase erythropoietin, which patients typically purchase outside of the (hemodialysis) facility. That typically increases the cost for the patient,” he added.

Tulfo explained that the P2,600 package allegedly includes medicines, but these medicines are only available in government hospitals, meaning that patients must first purchase the bottles before they can receive hemodialysis treatment.

“Little did we know that it is included in the P2,600 Philippine Health Insurance package, it is included but some hospitals, facilities and dialysis centers do not have these drugs. So the situation now is that, based on the directive of Speaker (Ferdinand Martin Romualdez), Philippine Health Insurance will have a month to study it,” Tulfo said.

“We are raising this issue because there are diabetics who told the Speaker’s office that they are having problems buying medicines, and that’s why they are contacting congressmen, mayors and senators. So, to solve this problem, PhilHealth will double the dialysis package from P2,600 to P5,200 so that it is all-inclusive,” he added.

Meanwhile, Santos assured that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation has enough funds to provide possible higher benefits, with total assets (excluding obligations such as arrears owed to hospitals) amounting to P589.5 billion.

This includes a reserve fund of 463.7 billion pesos.

Philippine Health Insurance adds hemodialysis coverage in June 2023 From 144 to 156 games — or another dozen meetings.

However, in November 2023, Proposal to remove cap on dialysis sessionsBecause patients have a lot of expenses.