PhilHealth boosts PD Z Benefit Package for adults, children

Effective January 1, 2025, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has significantly enhanced its Z Benefit Package for Peritoneal Dialysis (PD), introducing separate packages for adult and pediatric patients.

The enhanced PD package now covers Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) for adults and both CAPD and Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD) for pediatric patients, aiming to encourage PD as a first-line treatment for Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 5.

Adult coverage has increased to between P389,640 and P510,140 annually, a substantial rise from the previous P270,000.

For pediatric patients, coverage ranges from P510,000 to P765,210 for CAPD and P763,000 to P1.2 million for APD.

The package also includes coverage for preventing exit site infections and peritonitis, along with ancillary services like catheter insertion and outpatient treatments.

PhilHealth President and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. highlighted that PD offers patients more autonomy, flexibility, and a better quality of life compared to hemodialysis.

Peritoneal dialysis utilizes the patient's own peritoneal membrane as an artificial kidney, as defined by the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.