Good News | House of Representatives approves new bill that will give FREE dialysis treatment to indigent patients

177 affirmative votes had been cast by the members of the House of Representatives to approve of the House Bill 9156 which gives free dialysis to indigent patients. The house bill 9156 is inclusive of a comprehensive Renal Replacement Therapy or the RRT for indigent patients who are diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. The indigent patients will be under the “No Balance Billing Policy.”





Carlos Zarate, Bayan Muna Party-list Representative, is one of the principal authors of the House Bill 9156. The authors of the bill believed that the bill acknowledges two things: the first one is that not every Filipino can afford the treatment and second is the government has financial constraints that limit its support to the health of every Filipino citizen.

The bill requires that for the peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis, nephrologists, dialysis nurses, dialysis technicians and OR nurses involved in the procedures should be trained intensively.

The bill also targets to add value to the PhilHealth Package Rate for the RRT for its members. It adds up value to the PhilHealth Z-benefits package rates for peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis after a kidney transplant treatment.




The bill also aims to require RRT Facilities to be involved in regular organ donation advocacy activities. This will then imbue in every Filipinos’ routine to carry the organ donor card.

The bill requires that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office or the PCSO to give the additional needed sessions for the peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis after full consumption of a patient’s PhilHealth benefits package.

 If passed to a law, the services will be made available in national government hospitals, regional government hospitals, and provincial government hospitals.