Malacañang on Tuesday said that Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth) President Dante Gierran wants an expansion of the firm’s dialysis coverage to 133 sessions annually.
Currently, PhilHealth covers only up to 90 dialysis sessions per year.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Gierran would first seek the approval of the PhilHealth board.
“Ang kaniyang magiging suggestions sa board po at ito po ay bukas nilang pagmimitingan ay three times a week, times four weeks a month, times 12. So more or less po, ang maibibigay na libreng dialysis kung aaprubahan po ng board ay 133 per year,” he said in a Palace briefing.
The PhilHealth board will study Gierran’s proposal on Wednesday.
Roque said the board will also tackle the provision of P10,000 to dialysis patients courtesy of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
After Bayanihan 2 was signed into law last September, PhilHealth assured its members that they will be provided with special privileges such as exemption from the 45-days limit or the 90-session limit per calendar year in the case of hemodialysis patients.
The privileges will be valid until Dec. 19, 2020. John Ezekiel J. Hirro