CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) reminds the public that it covers dengue and leptospirosis cases, which increase during the rainy season.
Based on a report from the Department of Health (DOH) on July 15, 2023, the country has already recorded 80,000 cases of dengue and more than 2,000 cases of leptospirosis.
In a statement, PhilHealth said that the agency will shoulder P10,000 for patients who were hospitalized due to dengue fever and P16,000 for severe dengue cases.
Meanwhile, for leptospirosis, the agency will shoulder P11,000.
Dengue is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people. Leptospirosis, meanwhile, is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira.
On June 5, 2023, PhilHealth already disbursed P700 million to 76,000 dengue patients and P19 million to 1,654 leptospirosis claims throughout the country.
In Central Visayas, PhilHealth-7 has recorded 5,353 paid claims for dengue and 163 cases of leptospirosis from January to July this year.
“Lahat ng mga kababayan natin ay may PhilHealth benefits sakaling maospital dahil sa dengue o leptospirosis,” Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said, president and chief executive officer of PhilHealth.
Ledesma added that every Filipino can immediately avail of their PhilHealth benefits whenever they need them based on the Universal Health Care Law.
Measures against dengue, leptospirosis
He also encouraged the public to always take some measures to prevent being hospitalized due to dengue and leptospirosis through personal hygiene, sanitation, avoiding being soaked in flood, and destroying breeding sites of mosquitoes.
Whenever they observe symptoms of the disease, they should seek medical attention immediately.
“Huwag po natin ipagwalang bahala ang mga sintomas ng dengue at leptospirosis dahil delikadong sakit ang mga ito. Agad magpatingin at kung kinakailangang ma-confine ay sagot ng PhilHealth ang mga ito”, he added.
Ledesma also advised PhilHealth members to always update their member data record (MDR) to avoid conflicts during hospitalization.
/bmjo
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