Tacloban: The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has disbursed at least PHP5.6 billion in benefits in Eastern Visayas in 2024, a significant increase from PHP3.7 billion in the prior year. The amount covered 600,580 claims as more members became aware of healthcare benefits intended for them, PhilHealth 8 (Eastern Visayas) field operations division chief Asisclo Militante Jr. said.
According to Philippines News Agency, the rise in claims is attributed to an expansion in coverage, particularly for impoverished families. Militante emphasized the focus on maintaining critical services such as inpatient care, outpatient consultations, and preventive health programs, especially for those in greatest need. He noted that faster claims processing from PhilHealth to hospitals, now taking only 19 days instead of the previous 26 days, has contributed to the increase. This processing time is well below the 60 days allowed by law and the ideal 30-day period.
Rosario Suyom, chief of PhilHealth regional office health care delivery management, noted that moderate-risk pneumonia led in terms of paid benefits at PHP741 million, closely followed by hemodialysis procedures at PHP710 million. Although hemodialysis remains the leading procedure in claim count, with 162,733 claims processed last year compared to 19,678 for pneumonia, the higher payment for pneumonia is due to a 50 percent increase in benefits from PHP15,000 in previous years to PHP29,250 in 2024.
To date, there are approximately 4.9 million PhilHealth members and dependents in Eastern Visayas.
