Doctor hopeful PhilHealth package for heart attack patients will be available in 2022

A cardiologist on Wednesday expressed hope that the expanded Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) benefit package for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) services in the country will be made available by next year.

“Hopefully, maybe next year baka magkaroon na ‘yan at ma-develop na at ma-pilot test na siya,” Dr. Eric Sison said at the Usapang Puso sa Puso forum.

(Hopefully, maybe next year it will be available, developed, and tested already.)

“Ang hope is that the benefit package will be enough so kahit na sinong ordinaryong tao kung sakaling magkaroon ng atake sa puso ay makakatanggap noong nararapat na treatment na hindi siya mababaon sa utang,” he added.

(The hope is that the benefits package will be enough so anyone who will have a heart attack will receive the appropriate treatment without getting buried in debt.)

Sison said the PhilHealth is committed to developing the benefits package.

“They’re committed. We are working with them, PHA [Philippine Heart Association] and PSCCI [Philippine Society of Cardiovascular Catheterization and Interventions, Inc.]. They’re committed to developing a benefits package for heart attack,” Sison said.

According to Sison, they are seeking to have the benefits package shoulder most of the cost of the treatment, ambulance costs, as well as medications post-surgery.

However, he said authorities must carefully look into this.

“Pero kailangan kasing paghandaan at pag-aralan mabuti para sigurado din ‘yung package na gagawin… ay nararapat, angkop, at kayang bayaran ng gobyerno. So pinag-aaralan. We’re doing a lot of consultations sa hospitals,” he said.

(But we need to prepare for this to ensure that the package will be appropriate and payable by the government. So we are studying this. We are doing a lot of consultations.)

Cardiologist Luigi Segundo said STEMI is a type of heart attack that requires specific treatment.

STEMIConsult App

Meanwhile, Sison urged individuals with heart conditions to download the mobile application STEMIConsult.

“‘Yung app na ito, puwede i-download ‘yan, libre ‘yan… Makikita niyo kung ano ba ang mga sintomas ng heart attacks,” Sison said.

(This app is free… you can look at heart attack symptoms.)

“Tapos meron po siyang GPS. That’s why kahit nasaan kayo sa Pilipinas, puwede niyo hanapin ano ‘yung pinakamalapit na ospital sa akin na puwede magbigay ng appropriate treatment,” he added.

(It also has a GPS. That’s why wherever you are in the country, you can check the nearest hospital that could give you the appropriate treatment.)

Sison said contact numbers where patients can schedule appropriate treatments are also included in the application.

The application is a project of the PHA and the PSCCI. —KG, GMA News