The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has upgraded its benefit package for hemodialysis from 90 to 144 sessions for this year.

"Good news po sa lahat ng nagda-dialysis po ngayon ay in-extend po ng PhilHealth ang coverage ng outpatient hemodialysis. Dati po kasi ito ay 90 sessions, ngayon extended na po siya to 144 sessions (Good news for all those undergoing dialysis, PhilHealth has extended the coverage of outpatient hemodialysis. It used to be 90 sessions, now it has been extended to 144 sessions)," said PhilHealth Spokesperson Shirley Domingo on Tuesday, July 6 in a public press briefing.

Those who can avail this are PhilHealth members and their dependents with “ chronic kidney disease stage 5,” said Domingo.

Based on PhilHealth’s circular, "the 91st to 144th additional sessions shall be exclusively used for outpatient hemodialysis. Any unused sessions will not be carried over to CY (Calendar Year) 2022."

“But in our experience naman kasi, usually kapag three times a week sila naghi-hemodialysis eh nauubos po lahat ito during the year (But in our experience, usually when they do hemodialysis three times a week, they were able to use it all up during the year),” said Domingo.

"Paano pag-claim, mag-avail po nito? Claims for hemodialysis shall be deducted from the final medical bill and iyong magpa-file po sa atin nito is the healthcare provider (How to claim, avail it? Claims for hemodialysis shall be deducted from the final medical bill and is filed by the healthcare provider)," she added.

The agency, meanwhile, noted that patients who "already used their 91st to 144th hemodialysis sessions and whose hemodialysis benefits have not yet been deducted from their medical bill, may directly file claims with PhilHealth Regional/Branch office or local health insurance office based on existing guidelines for directly filed claims.”