Malacañang is pushing the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to expand its COVID-19 Home Isolation Benefit Packages (CHIBP) to include free reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing.
Acting presidential spokesman and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said PhilHealth currently covers free testing but only among patients who are symptomatic and are currently confined in public or private hospitals.
“We’re also pushing PhilHealth to increase the packages for home treatment. Those who are treating themselves at home can also be covered by PhilHealth. The PhilHealth package will also include RT-PCR,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.
RT-PCR testing is considered the gold standard in detecting the virus that causes COVID-19.
Currently, the CHIBP is available to patients who passed both clinical and social criteria in surge areas declared by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Services under the package include home consultations for a minimum of 10 days, 24/7 daily monitoring of patients through teleconsultation, and provision of a home isolation kit which contains: 1L 70 percent alcohol, five pieces face mask, 1 thermometer, 1 pulse oximeter, drugs and medicines (18 pieces Paracetamol, 12 pieces Lagundi tablets or equivalent, six sachets oral rehydration salts, 10 pieces Ascorbic Acid, 10 pieces Vitamin D and zinc), and a consent form.
CHIBP providers may refer patients to higher-level facilities should they experience deterioration during home isolation. However, if the patient expires during home isolation, the facility can still file a claim.
On Nov. 4, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 118, mandating the DOH and the Department of Trade and Industry to determine and implement a price range for RT-PCR testing.
Currently, the price cap for RT-PCR tests ranges from around P1,000 to P3,000.
Previously, the price cap for RT-PCR tests is P3,800 for public laboratories and hospitals and P4,500 to P5,000 for private laboratories, all costs included.
Meanwhile, the DOH has set at P960 the price cap for rapid antigen testing.
PhilHealth reminded the public that it is offering the CHIBP to members who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms of COVID-19.
PhilHealth spokesperson Shirley Domingo, in an Unang Balita interview, said this package is available for those who were found positive for COVID-19 through RT-PCR test, but does not cover those who have severe or critical symptoms.
“This package is paid to accredited providers and not to patients because the providers will be the ones to take care of them,” Domingo said.
Domingo said that those who want to avail of the package need to have a separate isolation room and toilet with good airflow for ventilation.
PhilHealth said that this home isolation package is an alternative option for COVID-19 positive patients who do not want to stay in a Community Isolation Unit (CIU) and wish to receive health support directly in their homes.
The program was developed to encourage providers to extend monitoring and clinical support to patients recommended for home isolation, particularly in areas where there may be limited availability of beds in isolation facilities, Philhealth said.
Meanwhile, PhilHealth said it is in talks with various private hospitals, following reports of delayed payment of claims.
“We are talking to them to agree or reconcile the data of the amount of claims that need to be paid. That’s the first step, then we process their claims. The processing of claims is continuous,” Domingo said on GMA’s Unang Balita.
The Private Hospitals Associations of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) earlier scheduled a five-day “PhilHealth holiday” starting Jan. 1, 2022, to protest PhilHealth’s alleged delayed payment of claims amounting to billions of pesos.
However, this was postponed to educate the public first on the purpose of the PhilHealth holiday and to give patients instructions on what to do during its implementation, PHAPI President Dr. Jose Rene de Grano said.
Domingo said the matter may no longer result in a Philhealth holiday as they are already coordinating with hospitals to discuss the issues.