Cost of getting sick

Cost of medical care in the Philippines

Local cost of medical care

Kidney disease – Medical costs in the Philippines for treating kidney diseases is extremely expensive. According to the national kidney institute, kidney diseases are the 7th biggest cause of death in the Philippines. Dialysis which is usually a required treatment for kidney problems can cost 3000 – 4000 pesos per session and can be required 3 times per week for years or unspecified no. of years!

This means someone undergoing dialysis could be spending  over 40,000 pesos per month just on the dialysis procedure. This type of medical cost is just too high for many Filipinos. The actual kidney operation can cost from 1 – 2 millions pesos.

Heart disease – 5 out of 10 Filipinos according to the NSA die from cardiovascular causes and up to 21% of the deaths in a particular year are caused by heart disease. It’s a serious problem, even more so when you consider the average cost of heart surgeries and treatments range from 300,000 pesos to 1.5 million pesos for your total medical bill.

Cancer – the most common cancer in the Philippines is breast cancer with 15 Filipinos a day who die from the disease. Treatment costs vary depending on the cancer and stage but can often cost more than 2 million pesos once you include the expensive medicines and doctors fees. This puts tremendous stress on families who will suffer both emotionally and financially.

The 10 Most Expensive Common Medical Conditions…

1. HIV $25,000

2. Cancer $49,000

3. Transplant $51,000

4. Stroke $61,000

5. Hemophilia $62,000

6. Heart Attack including Cardiac Revascularization (Angioplasty with or without Stent) $72,000

7. Coronary Artery Disease $75,000

8. Neonate (premature baby) with extreme problems $101,000

9. End-Stage Renal Disease $173,000

10. Respiratory Failure on Ventilator $314,000

Who is poor?...

• According to the poverty incidence statistics, there are about 40 million poor in the Philippines, which correspond to about 40 percent of the population. Out of them, nearly 20 million are hard-core poor, which means that they have barely enough for subsistence.

•The current PhilHealth program for the poor (Medicare Para sa Masa) covers 2.8 m individuals, which corresponds to less than 10 percent of the total poor population.