On Thursday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. visited dialysis patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Diliman, Quezon City. His visit coincided with the launch of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) new benefits package for adult and pediatric post-kidney transplant patients.
Upon his arrival at the NKTI, Marcos greeted CKD patients at the Hemodialysis Center and its Extension, and he also checked on post-kidney transplant patients. During the event, he announced the expanded Z Benefit package of PhilHealth.
Introduced in 2012, the Z Benefits package was designed to cover medically and economically catastrophic conditions, including low-risk kidney transplantation for patients with CKD stage 5. The package encompasses coverage for pre-transplant services, organ harvesting from a living donor, and the transplant procedure itself.
PhilHealth has developed a comprehensive benefit package for post-kidney transplantation, which covers both adult and pediatric patients with stage 5 CKD. This initiative aims to lessen the financial burden on patients, improve long-term health outcomes, and promote equitable access to quality healthcare.
In alignment with the goals of universal healthcare, PhilHealth has enhanced its benefits for members with CKD stage 5 by increasing the number of covered hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156 annually, at a cost of PHP6,350 per session. Additionally, the Z Benefit for kidney transplantation coverage has been raised to PHP1.045 million for living organ donors and PHP2.146 million for deceased organ donors.
Marcos noted that living kidney donors will also receive ongoing benefits from PhilHealth. Under the post-kidney transplant services benefits, living donors will receive PHP1,900 for every six months of laboratory testing and monitoring.
Last month, PhilHealth reported paying PHP592 million in claims to the NKTI from January 1 to May 21, which included PHP161 million for hemodialysis claims alone.
According to estimates from the NKTI, a Filipino develops chronic kidney failure every hour, resulting in approximately 120 new cases per million population annually. The number of individuals undergoing dialysis treatment has reached 64,845 in 2023, reflecting a 22-percent increase from the 53,296 logged in 2022.
Data from the Philippine Renal Disease Registry of the Department of Health, as of March 2025, indicated that hypertensive nephrosclerosis accounted for 33.07 percent of kidney disease cases nationwide, followed by diabetic nephropathy at 30.04 percent, and chronic glomerulonephritis at 12.20 percent.
Furthermore, cases of CKD in children have risen from 144 (9.3 percent) in 2023 to 301 (12.1 percent) in 2024, marking a 3-percent increase based on NKTI data.