By Filane Mikee Cervantes and Ma. Teresa Montemayor | Philippine News Agency
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will study the proposal to double its coverage amount for hemodialysis from the current P2,600 per session to P5,200, an official said on Tuesday.
In a press conference at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, PhilHealth Executive Vice President Eli Santos said the goal of this proposed increase is to remove out-of-pocket costs of hemodialysis patients.
“Ang PhilHealth po ay pag-aaralan yung pag-increase po nito to P5,200… binigyan po kami ng one month po na pag-aralan po ito,” Santos said.
Santos said erythropoietin, which is used by people on dialysis, is usually purchased outside of dialysis facilities, which increases patient costs.
House Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list lawmaker Erwin Tulfo expressed optimism that increasing the coverage amount to P5,200 is “doable” following his meeting with PhilHealth officials.
“Base sa meeting namin kanina is doable naman. Base doon sa funding at pondo, every year naman nagbibigay ng pondo ang Congress sa PhilHealth, so maaring doon ho huhugutin,” he said.
Tulfo said the current hemodialysis cost of P2,600 per session does not typically cover the vials to be injected to the patients.
“The good news is hopefully by next month, wala na talagang ica-cash out yung mga nagpapa-dialysis lalo na yung mga three time a week. Kasi ngayon kailangan nila bumili ng mga vials sa botika. Dadalhin nila doon sa dialysis center para i-injection sa kanila,” Tulfo said.
Santos, meanwhile, said PhilHealth’s assets amount to P589.5 billion, including P463.7 billion worth of reserve funds.
Tulfo also reported that mammograms and ultrasound have already been included in PhilHealth’s Konsulta Packages nationwide since May 15.
Santos said the capitation rate for the Konsulta program has been increased to P1,700 per patient for both government and private Konsulta package providers.
Basic dental services
PhilHealth is also looking into the inclusion of basic dental services in its packages under the Universal Health Care (UHC) law, following Sen. Raffy Tulfo’s observation that procedures are limited to tooth extraction and cleft palate surgeries.
“We are currently exploring it, studying it, looking closely to doing (a) study,” PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Ledesma said at a media forum in Pasig City.
He added that PhilHealth has enough funds for such services.
For the meantime, PhilHealth Benefits Development and Research Development senior manager Melanie Santillan said the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) still needs to come up with the guidelines for dental practice.
“Sa kanila kase ngayon palang nila ini-i-standardize ‘yung dental services. Kunwari, ano ang ginagawa during oral prophylaxis. Baka iba iba sila ng practice,” she said. “We do not want patient safety to be compromised.”
Senators are considering amendments on the UHC Law so it can cover basic dental services like checkups and cleaning since 73 million Filipinos suffer from tooth decay, based on a National Health Survey in 2018.
The PDA reported in February that 72% of the population have cavities.