SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday commended the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for its decision to significantly increase the benefit package for breast cancer patients, saying it as a “crucial step towards enhancing healthcare services in the country.”
Romualdez praised PhilHealth’s announcement of a 1,400 percent increase in the “Z benefit package” for breast cancer patients, elevating it from P100,000 to a substantial P1.4 million while reiterating his call for PhilHealth to further expand other benefit packages and services to include early cancer detection.
“We applaud PhilHealth for its substantial increase in support for breast cancer patients, marking a significant stride towards advancing health care,” he said. “Moreover, expanding other benefits and services, particularly in early cancer detection for timely interventions, is essential to ultimately enhance accessibility to cancer care and for addressing other diseases.”
PhilHealth’s move came following Romualdez’ call for the state insurer to increase its share in the cost of hospitalization, including doctors’ fees, incurred by patients admitted in private hospitals.
The Speaker has been echoing the patients’ appeal for PhilHealth to shoulder half of the medical expenses so that members will just have to pay the remaining half.
Romualdez said PhilHealth’s move to increase the benefit package for breast cancer patients “is a commendable move as it will undoubtedly alleviate the financial burden faced by patients and their families during their battle against this life-threatening disease.”
The Speaker underscored the significance of early detection in improving cancer survival rates and urged PhilHealth “to further expand its benefit package and services to include comprehensive cancer screening programs.”
While increasing the benefit package for breast cancer patients is a commendable step, he said “we must not overlook the importance of early detection in saving lives. I encourage PhilHealth to consider expanding the package to cover the cost of cancer screenings, enabling early detection and intervention.”
“Breast cancer affects not only the physical health but also the emotional and financial well-being of patients. We must ensure that our healthcare system is equipped to provide comprehensive support to those affected,” he pointed out.
PhilHealth has also approved a 30 percent increase in all benefit packages for its members effective on Feb. 14, to account for price changes that happened since 2013 when most case rates were last adjusted.
Out of the 14 benefit packages for catastrophic cases, four have been increased by over 30 percent while the significant increases in 10 more catastrophic cases are will also be implemented this year and in 2025.