The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Wednesday reaffirmed support for patients undergoing renal treatment at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) by increasing the number of hemodialysis sessions that members with chronic kidney disease stage 5 now receive to 156 from the previous 90 per year.
PhilHealth President and CEO Edwin Mercado visited the NKTI to highlight ongoing efforts to improve services for patients with end-stage renal disease, in line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s healthcare priorities.
Additionally, coverage for peritoneal dialysis under the Z Benefit Package has also increased to P1.2 million, while the Z Benefit for kidney transplantation rose from P600,000 to P2 million.
The agency reported that from 1 January to 21 May this year, it disbursed P592 million in total claims to NKTI, with P161 million spent on hemodialysis alone. Hemodialysis has emerged as the top paid medical procedure covered by PhilHealth in 2024, signaling a marked rise in benefit utilization.
Mercado said these figures reflect the success of PhilHealth’s expanded renal care support, which aims to ease the burden of long-term treatment for Filipino patients.