Patients lauded the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) decision to increase dialysis benefit from PHP2,600 to PHP4,000 in line with the pro-poor policy of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. and Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa earlier approved the request of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to increase the dialysis benefit.

Romualdez said the higher benefit will greatly enable the patients defray the costs of chronic kidney disease (CKD) treatments that drain their finances.

Gerwin Acepcion Castor, a hemodialysis patient, said increasing the dialysis benefit of PhilHealth will give him and his family a much-needed financial relief.

“Salamat po sa Kongreso sa pagsulong nyo sa PhilHealth para ang mga pasyente na kagaya ko. Wala kaming babayaran tuwing salang ng session namin. (Thanks to Congress for pushing the PhilHealth [benefit] for the patients like me. We don’t have to pay during our hemodialysis sessions),” he said in a news release on Sunday.

Del Rosario, a 17-year-old patient, said the increased financial benefit will somehow ease the financial burdens of CKD patients.

“Sa sobrang dami po naming dialysis patients, hindi naman po lahat kayang magbayad ng pang co-pay, injection at pang dialyzer (Because of our large number, not all of us could afford to pay co-pay, injection, and dialyzer),” she added.

For Norman Gajo, he said his pension is not enough to cover dialysis treatment.

“It is a very great help for us,” Gajo said.

For Aldrin Aguilar, another dialysis patient, the increase in PhilHealth benefits will help those like him who have no means of livelihood.

“With the increased assistance, they will no longer have to augment the amount they spend for this procedure, even in private health facilities,” Romualdez said in a previous statement.

The adjustment supports the goal of President Marcos and the Universal Health Care Law to provide poor Filipinos with free health care.

Romualdez said he is hoping PhilHealth would likewise approve the other free health services that Congress has been pushing for, like free laboratory tests and free mammogram. (PNA)