Senator Imee Marcos has called on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) to expand its free dialysis treatments offer to indigent kidney patients.
Marcos made the call as the family celebrates the birth anniversary of her father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
She said the life of the former president was extended by dialysis treatments until he died of end-stage renal failure in 1989.
Marcos noted kidney disease remains among the top 10 leading causes of death in the country, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Although the state health insurance agency has already increased the free treatments it offers last July from 90 to 144, the extra 54 sessions only apply from July to December of this year.
“With the number of Filipinos who suffer kidney disease, many are also unable to seek treatment. The lines are long at the NKTI (National Kidney and Transplant Institute) and other public hospitals where the cost of dialysis is lower,” Marcos pointed out.
“Getting sick these days is expensive, especially the cost of dialysis treatments at private healthcare centers,” she lamented.
Marcos said she plans to file a Senate bill permanently increasing free dialysis treatments for indigent patients to 180 sessions.
This means, she said, “extra savings for indigent patients, in addition to PhilHealth benefits that reduce the average Php3,500 cost of dialysis per session.”