TACLOBAN CITY — The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation in Eastern Visayas disclosed on Thursday that it has paid over P440 million claims for hemodialysis last year, making it the top procedure paid by the insurance agency.

PhilHealth Eastern Visayas healthcare delivery management division chief Dr. Rosario Suyom said that while the number of patients seeking dialysis in the region has basically remained constant, the increase in the number of sessions covered by insurance claims resulted in the dramatic increase in the amounts of claims.

Records from PhilHealth regional office shows that the government health insurance agency paid a total of P440,455,138.51 last year for hemodialysis alone for 124,287 claims of 2,730 patients in the region.

Hemodialysis is a procedure where a machine is used to filter wastes, salts and fluid from the blood when the kidneys are no longer healthy enough to do this work adequately. This is used to treat those with advanced kidney failure to help them carry on an active life despite failing kidneys.

“These are almost the same patients that we had in the previous years,” Suyom said. “What really increased is the coverage, from 90 sessions to 152 sessions a year.”

To recall, PhilHealth has expanded its package for patients with chronic kidney disease stage 5 to 156 sessions from 90 sessions annually. Under PhilHealth Circular 2023-009, the agency would be paying P2,600 every session or P405,600 per year for CKD stage 5 patients.