PhilHealth coverage for H1N1 virus

STARTING on July 11, hospital confinements due to influenza A (H1N1) virus will be paid as Case Type A based on PhilHealth’s inpatient benefit schedule.

During the outbreak of the H1N1 virus in 2009, PhilHealth produced a benefit package for those infected with the disease.

Hospitalization benefit for PhilHealth members and qualified dependents then was P75,000 and P150,000 for qualified health care workers who  contracted the disease while attending to an H1N1 patient.

The World Health Organization recently announced that the H1N1 virus is  shifting toward the post-pandemic phase—which means that the virus has taken on a behavior and intensity similar to that of the regular seasonal flu viruses. This impelled PhilHealth to consider the influenza A (H1N1) to be paid as Case Type A.

Patients admitted in a tertiary-level hospital with an illness classified as Case Type A will have a maximum coverage of P500 per day for the room and board charges; maximum of P4,200 for drugs and medicines for the whole period of confinement; P3,200 for X-ray, laboratory, and supplies; and coverage for the doctors’ fees.