The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. will shoulder the testing costs for individuals seeking treatment for the novel coronavirus disease-2019, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said yesterday.30rales said this is part of President Duterte’s directives to address concerns involving the disease.
According to Nograles, COVID-19 tests in hospitals would be covered by PhilHealth on top of coverage for quarantine and isolation costs.
“The President recognizes that everyone in the country is concerned about COVID-19 and the threat this poses to the health and lives of our loved ones, especially vulnerable individuals like senior citizens,” he said.
“Given this, the last thing we want is for our citizens to worry about medical costs and expenses. Their only concern should be their well-being and the well-being of their families,” he added.
Nograles said PhilHealth is already formalizing and operationalizing the new benefit.
The Palace official also said the government is now working overtime to ensure that there would be an adequate number of testing kits in order to quickly identify and isolate those infected with COVID-19.
“We are fast-tracking the deployment of these kits so these can be used at the soonest possible time. Per Dr. Destura of Manila Healthtek, the rapid diagnostic test kit for COVID-19 is set for field validation study, and that UP PGH and the National Institute for Health have agreed to support the study,” Nograles said. (Argyll Geducos)