PhilHealth reiterates benefit package for premature, small newborn

By: PR - CDN Digital | November 17,2022 - 04:58 PM

As the world celebrates World Prematurity Day, today, Nov. 17, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. in Central Visayas  (Philhealth-7) highlights its Z Benefits for Premature and Small Newborns.

Philhealth said this is also known as Circular No. 2017-0009, which was released in 2017.

The benefit aims to ensure delivery of quality of health service for mothers, who are about to give birth and improve the survival, health and well-being of pre-term and low birth weight babies.

The Z Benefit for Premature and Small Newborn includes coverage for interventions to prevent complications related to prematurity and low birth weight, which are consistent with the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) to adopt a life stage and continuity of care approach for mothers and children.

According to the WHO, prematurity is the leading cause of death globally in children under the age of five years, and estimates that 15 million infants worldwide are born over three weeks early.

And due to this from 2014 to 2017, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Department of Health (DOH), and the PhilHealth worked together to help bring down neonatal mortality in the country developing a benefit package to integrate the necessary interventions for the prevention and management of complications from prematurity and low birth weight among newborns.

And so the Z Benefit package was offered in 2017.

Aside from that, The DOH Administrative Order 2008-0029 on Implementing Health Reforms for Rapid Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality shows this benefit.

Pregnant women, who are at risk of giving birth at 24 weeks to less than 37 weeks of gestation may avail of the benefit package for the prevention of preterm delivery. 

The health insurance of PhilHealth for this case ranges from  P600 to P4,000.

Premature newborns, who are visually small or very small (24 weeks to less than 37 weeks by fetal ageing, or 500 grams to less than 2,500 grams in fetal weight), are also entitled to avail of the Z Benefit package for essential interventions.

For premature and small newborns, who are 24 weeks to less than 32 weeks in fetal age, the Z Benefit package rate ranges from P35,000 to P135,000. 

However, preterm and small babies, who are 32 weeks to less than 37 weeks by fetal ageing, are entitled to P24,000 to P71,000 worth of health insurance coverage under the Z Benefit.

PhilHealth emphasizes that Z Benefit packages may be availed by members and their declared legal dependents at contracted hospitals nationwide.

Currently, there are only 18 contracted hospitals nationwide for the Z Benefit for premature and small newborn, two of which are in Central Visayas. The Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran City, Bohol is the first hospital in the country that entered into contract with PhilHealth to provide the Z Benefit package for preterm and small babies, and recently, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.

The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Section of PhilHealth Regional Office VII is currently in touch with Cebu South Medical Center (formerly Talisay District Hospital) for the completion of their application as a contracted facility to have it as the third provider of such Z Benefit package.

Since it was launched, PhilHealth expanded the Z Benefit packages to cover more catastrophic cases which include treatment for Acute Lymphocytic/Lymphoblastic Leukemia in children, early stages of breast and cervical cancer, heart surgeries for children (Tetralogy of Fallot and Ventricular Septal Defect), Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, end-stage renal disease requiring kidney transplantation, among others. 

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