* PhilHealth and the DOH are stepping up health protection against extreme heat and heat-related illnesses following Pagasa warnings of a strong El Niño persisting through mid-2027.
* PhilHealth is urging families to register with Yakap clinics to access primary care benefits, consultations, diagnostic tests, and up to P20,000 worth of annual outpatient medicines.
* The state insurer provides outpatient emergency coverage alongside fixed inpatient hospital case rates ranging from P7,800 to P19,500 for heat-related illnesses and seasonal infections.
PHILHEALTH is stepping up health protection against extreme heat and heat-related illnesses, heeding President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call for proactive government action on climate change.
Anchored on the Unified National Agenda for Health, Philhealth is working with the Department of Health (DOH) as the weather bureau Pagasa warns of a strong El Niño persisting through mid-2027. The weather phenomenon brings rising risks of heat stroke, dehydration, asthma, hypertension, dengue and water-borne infections.
In support of this directive, Philhealth is urging families to register and visit their chosen Yakap clinic to access preventive and primary care benefits. This move aims to help protect the public against heat-related health risks.
Yakap program
Through the Yaman ng Kalusugan Program or Yakap, members can access consultations, appropriate laboratory and diagnostic tests and outpatient cancer screening. Eligible members may also receive up to P20,000 worth of essential outpatient medicines annually.
Regular checkups under the program can help detect and manage conditions that may worsen during extreme heat, such as hypertension, diabetes and respiratory diseases.
Philhealth reminds its members that the state insurer provides both outpatient and inpatient coverage. Through the Outpatient Emergency Care Benefit, non-admitted emergency room services are covered, including doctor consultations, diagnostic tests, imaging, emergency procedures and essential medicines.
Inpatient rates
For severe conditions requiring hospital confinement, Philhealth pays direct fixed case rates to accredited hospitals for seasonal infections and heat-related illnesses. The coverage includes typhoid fever (P19,500), heat fatigue (P18,135), sore eyes (P16,575), heat stroke or cramps (P12,675), acute gastroenteritis (P11,700) and chickenpox or moderate-to-severe dehydration (P7,800).
To register for Yakap, members can select their preferred clinic online through the Philhealth Member Portal or the eGovPH app. They can also register onsite at any Philhealth Regional Office or Local Health Insurance Office nationwide. / PR