Duterte to PhilHealth: Cover COVID-19 patients’ stay in tents, swab tests, isolation

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to cover the expenses of COVID-19 patients receiving care from temporary tents outside hospitals, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Duterte also ordered PhilHealth to cover the cost of of Reverse Transcription – Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) or swab tests and isolation of both mild and critical COVID-19 patients.

“Nagbigay ng direktiba po ang ating Presidente sa Philippine Health Insurance Corp. na kasama sa health insurance coverage ang RT PCR tests, isolation sa accredited community isolation units at hospitalization para sa mild at critical cases ng COVID-19,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online briefing.

(The President has ordered PhilHealth to cover the cost of the swab test, isolation in accredited facilities and hospitalization of mild and critical COVID-19 patients.)

(Image from PhilHealth Facebook)

“Kaugnay nito, kung ang tents ay kasama sa in-patient care, kailangan covered ito sa kasalukuyang in-patient COVID-19 package,” he added.

(If the patients’ stay in tents is part of in-patient care, thensuch should likewise be covered under the current in-patient COVID-19 package.)

In an earlier hearing at the House of Representatives, a lawmaker revealed that some hospitals are charging COVID-19 patients staying in temporary tents P1,000 per hour while awaiting admission since the cost is not covered by PhilHealth.

gsg