President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday visited the dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Diliman, Quezon City.

Marcos’ visit coincided with the launching of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) new benefits package for adult and pediatric post-kidney transplant patients.

Upon arrival at the NKTI, Marcos greeted the CKD patients at the Hemodialysis Center and Hemodialysis Center Extension.

He also checked on the post-kidney transplant patients.

During the event, Marcos announced the expanded Z Benefit package of PhilHealth.

In 2012, PhilHealth introduced the Z Benefits package to cover medically and economically catastrophic conditions, including low-risk kidney transplantation for patients with CKD stage 5. The package includes coverage for pre-transplant services, organ harvesting from a living donor, and the transplant procedure.

PhilHealth developed a comprehensive benefit package for post-kidney transplantation, covering both adult and pediatric patients with stage 5 CKD to lessen the financial burden, improve long-term health outcomes, and advance equitable access to quality healthcare.

In line with the goals of universal healthcare, PhilHealth enhanced its benefits for members with CKD stage 5 by expanding hemodialysis sessions from 90 to 156 (at PHP6,350 per session) annually.

PhilHealth also raised the Z Benefit for coverage for kidney transplantation with a living organ donor to PHP1.045 million and with a deceased organ donor to PHP2.146 million.

Marcos said living kidney donors will also receive regular beneficial benefits from PhilHealth.

Under the same post-kidney transplant services benefits, living donors will receive PHP1,900 for every six months of laboratory testing and monitoring.

Last month, PhilHealth paid PHP592 million worth of claims to the NKTI from Jan. 1 to May 21, covering PHP161 million for hemodialysis claims alone,

One Filipino develops chronic kidney failure every hour, equating to around 120 new cases per million population annually, based on the NKTI’s estimate.

The number of individuals undergoing dialysis treatment has reached 64,845 in 2023, a 22-percent increase from 53,296 logged in 2023, according to the government’s latest data.

As of March 2025, data from the Philippine Renal Disease Registry of the Department of Health 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.

Cases of CKD in children increased from 144 (9.3 percent) in 2023 to 301 (12.1 percent) in 2024, registering a 3-percent hike, based on the data from the NKTI. (PNA)