Higher dialysis aid lauded; patients urged to get routine check-ups

Speaker Martin Romualdez | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines—As government dialysis aid increased, House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez appealed to diabetic and hypertensive patients to get checked regularly to avoid undergoing such a medical procedure.

In a statement on Monday, Romualdez thanked the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) for increasing the coverage for dialysis from P2,600 to P4,000 per session, noting that the adjustment is a big help for patients.

Romualdez, however, pointed out that diabetes and hypertension patients can also avail themselves of PhilHealth packages for these ailments.

“We appeal to concerned patients to have these basic ailments checked and treated, like diabetes and hypertension, before they lead to kidney problems that require dialysis,” Romualdez said.

READ: PhilHealth announces increased coverage for hemodialysis sessions

“They can, of course, avail themselves of PhilHealth benefit packages for these illnesses,” he added.

Romualdez expressed gratitude to PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. and Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa for approving the dialysis benefit package increase. The increase is expected to benefit at least 1 million Filipinos who need the treatment, which helps remove extra fluid and waste products from a patient’s blood due to the kidneys’ inability to do so.

“[The increase] will be a big help to the more than 1 million Filipinos undergoing dialysis,” the Speaker said.

“With the increased assistance, they will no longer have to augment the amount they spend for this procedure, even in private health facilities,” he added.

On May 28, PhilHealth Executive Vice President Eli Dino Santos said the state-run insurer is studying a proposal to increase its dialysis package to P5,200 per session, which would also cover medications needed for the procedure.

Santos said this in an interview after meeting with ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, who noted that hemodialysis medicines used for the procedure cost around P900 to P1,500 per vial.

Tulfo explained back then that the P2,600 package supposedly included the medicines. Still, these are only provided in government hospitals, which means patients have to buy these vials first before getting a hemodialysis treatment..

READ: PhilHealth studying possible expanded dialysis coverage

“Little did we know that it is included in the package of PhilHealth worth P2,600, it is included there, but there are hospitals, facilities, and dialysis centers without these medicines. So what will happen now is that PhilHealth will be given one month to study it, as per the instruction of the Speaker (Ferdinand Martin Romualdez),” Tulfo said.

“We brought this up because there are diabetes patients who told the Office of the Speaker that they are having problems with buying medicines, that’s why they have approached congressmen, mayors, [and] senators. So to solve this problem, what PhilHealth will do is to double the P2,600 package for dialysis, it is now P5,200 so that it will be all-in,” he added.

Santos, meanwhile, gave assurance that PhilHealth has enough funds for a possible higher benefit provision since the agency’s total assets amount to P589.5 billion – excluding obligations like outstanding payments to hospitals.