MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is set to roll out benefit packages for COVID-19 patients with mild and moderate symptoms isolating at home or other care facilities, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said this will help patients get the care they need as well as help hospitals decongest, allowing them to focus on patients with severe and critical symptoms.
“PhilHealth now is going to roll out home benefit packages specifically for mild and moderate. They reported to us that they will be doing this, in fact, in August so we’re hoping that this will be rolled out,” he said in an interview on ABS CBN News Channel.
Aside from this, public and private healthcare facilities have deployed “step down” measures for mild, moderate and recuperating COVID-19 patients to further decongest hospitals.
This is where COVID-19 patients who no longer need immediate assistance are placed in separate facilities for them to continue their isolation and treatment, Vega said.
Public hospitals also provide care kits to patients, he added.
Vega said the health care utilization rate in Metro Manila is already in the moderate risk level, with intensive care units hitting high risk levels, meaning they are from 70% up to 84% occupied.
As of August 22, the Philippines has a total of 1,839,635 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 1,681,925 recoveries and 31,810 deaths.