ASSURING kidney disease patients of continued government support, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday led the launch of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)’s new benefit package for post-kidney transplantation services.
PhilHealth has offered a new support package for adult and pediatric post-kidney transplant patients in response to President Marcos’ directive to prioritize healthcare.
During his visit to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City for the launch, President Marcos stated that Filipinos need to improve their lifestyle and diet to reduce cases of chronic kidney disease.
“Until we improve the situation of our children’s diet… we recognize the needs of our sick kababayan para naman lahat ng kanilang pangangailangan ay matutugunan ng ating PhilHealth at saka ng ating mga facilities kagaya nitong NKTI,” President Marcos said in his remarks after visiting some wards.
The President greeted patients at the Hemodialysis Center and the Hemodialysis Center Extension, and met with post-kidney transplant patients.
PhilHealth developed a comprehensive benefits package for post-kidney transplantation covering both adult and pediatric patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD).
The initiative aims to alleviate the financial burden on patients and their families, enhance long-term health outcomes, and promote equitable access to quality healthcare, aligning with the objectives of the Universal Health Care law.
The new benefits package for adult and child post-kidney transplant patients covers immunosuppressive medications, drug prophylaxis, drug level monitoring, laboratory tests, diagnostic tests, renal graft biopsy, and living donor monitoring.
For pediatric patients, PhilHealth will cover immunosuppressive medications worth PhP73,065 per month for the first year, and worth PhP41,150 per month for the succeeding years; drug prophylaxis or antibiotic to prevent infections worth PhP45,570 per month; and laboratory services worth PhP37,585 for every three months for the first year and worth PhP14,078 for every three months for the succeeding years.
Meanwhile, adult patients 19 years old and above are entitled to PhP40,725 per month for immunosuppressive medications; PhP18,932 for 6 months of treatment; and PhP11,242 for every 3 months of laboratory services for the first year and PhP8,125 for every three months for the succeeding years.
Living kidney donors are also entitled to PhP1,900 worth of laboratory and monitoring services every six months.
At the start of the year, Philhealth enhanced the benefits for members with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5. These improvements include expanding hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156 annually, increasing coverage for the Z Benefit Package for peritoneal dialysis up to PhP1.2 million, and raising the Z Benefit coverage for kidney transplantation from PhP600,000 to PhP2 million.
Chronic kidney disease is a pressing global health issue. The NKTI said one Filipino develops chronic kidney failure every hour, equating to around 120 new cases per million population annually.
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