MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) released a striking picture of the country’s healthcare needs in the first half of 2026: the state health insurer paid ₱210.09 billion in healthcare claims from January to June, with hemodialysis emerging as the single biggest medical procedure in terms of payments.
PhilHealth paid approximately ₱48.76 billion for hemodialysis claims during the six-month period, substantially higher than the amounts recorded for the other procedures included in its top 10 list.
The figures underscore the enormous financial burden associated with kidney disease and the continuing demand for dialysis treatment among Filipinos.
Hemodialysis dominates PhilHealth payouts
According to PhilHealth data cited by the Philippine News Agency and Philstar, the top medical procedures by claims paid during the first half of 2026 included:
- Hemodialysis — ₱48.76 billion
- Cesarean section — ₱4.88 billion
- Chemotherapy administration — ₱3.50 billion
- Facility-based emergency/outpatient emergency care — ₱3.15 billion
- Intensity-modulated radiation therapy — ₱3.11 billion
- Animal bite treatment — ₱2.93 billion
- Expanded newborn care — ₱2.81 billion
- Normal spontaneous delivery — ₱2.73 billion
- Outpatient HIV/AIDS package — ₱2.46 billion
- Maternity care package — ₱2.24 billion
The numbers show just how far ahead hemodialysis was compared with the other individual procedures. Its ₱48.76-billion payout was nearly 10 times the amount paid for cesarean-section claims, the second-highest procedure on the list.
Why dialysis is such a major expense
Hemodialysis is a treatment that performs some of the functions normally handled by healthy kidneys by filtering waste products and excess fluid from the blood.
For patients with advanced or end-stage kidney disease, dialysis can become a regular, long-term treatment rather than a one-time medical procedure.
PhilHealth has expanded its coverage for chronic kidney disease patients in recent years. Its current benefits information lists hemodialysis as a covered procedure and provides a ₱6,350 case rate per session, covering inpatient and outpatient procedures, including emergency dialysis for acute renal failure.
The current benefit structure is considerably different from the earlier ₱2,600-per-session rate reported when PhilHealth expanded its CKD Stage 5 package in 2023. At that time, the agency increased the annual coverage from 90 to as many as 156 dialysis sessions.
The numbers have been climbing
The latest figures are not an isolated development.
In June 2025, the Philippine News Agency reported that PhilHealth had already paid nearly ₱27 billion for more than two million hemodialysis claims during the first half of 2025—almost matching the ₱28 billion paid for the entire previous year.
That makes the latest 2026 figure particularly notable: ₱48.76 billion was paid for hemodialysis in just the first six months of 2026.
The rising expenditure reflects not only the cost of individual treatments but also the large and continuing number of dialysis sessions required by patients with chronic kidney disease.
PhilHealth officials have previously pointed to the increasing demand for dialysis as an important factor behind the rising claims.
PhilHealth’s total payouts jumped sharply
The dialysis figures come amid a much broader increase in PhilHealth benefit payments.
BusinessMirror reported that PhilHealth’s ₱210.09-billion first-half 2026 benefit payments represented a 44.53% increase from the ₱145.36 billion paid during the same period in 2025.
Private healthcare facilities received ₱123.25 billion, while government facilities received ₱86.84 billion during the first half of 2026.
The rapid increase in benefit payments has also prompted discussions about PhilHealth’s financial requirements and the need to ensure that the state insurer has enough resources to sustain and expand healthcare coverage.
BusinessMirror reported in July that medical professionals were calling for stronger government funding for PhilHealth, citing projections that benefit payments could reach around ₱400 billion for the full year.
Kidney care remains a major healthcare challenge
The prominence of hemodialysis in PhilHealth’s claims data highlights a larger public-health issue: kidney disease can require years of expensive and recurring treatment.
PhilHealth has also expanded its support for kidney transplantation and related post-transplant care. In 2025, PhilHealth officials announced higher kidney-transplant benefit packages, with adult packages starting at ₱800,000 and potentially exceeding ₱1 million, while pediatric packages can exceed ₱2.1 million.
The agency has also introduced post-kidney-transplant Z Benefit packages covering items such as immunosuppressive medicines, infection-prevention treatment and laboratory monitoring.
Z Benefits also receive billions
Beyond routine medical procedures, PhilHealth reported that it paid ₱1.82 billion in Z Benefits claims during the first half of 2026, benefiting 34,268 members with severe and catastrophic illnesses requiring prolonged and expensive treatment.
The Z Benefits program is designed to provide financial protection for patients facing particularly costly medical conditions.
What the latest numbers really show
The headline figure is ₱210.09 billion.
But buried inside that number is an even more significant trend: ₱48.76 billion went to hemodialysis alone in six months.
For PhilHealth, the figures demonstrate the growing demand for healthcare benefits. For patients and families dealing with kidney failure, they also illustrate how dependent many Filipinos are on the country’s public health insurance system to help shoulder the cost of continuing treatment.
And with benefit payments rising by more than 44% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, the bigger question may no longer be simply how much PhilHealth is paying today—but how much the healthcare system will need to sustain these benefits in the years ahead.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.S
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