BIZ BUZZ: Dengue’s economic strain
A surge in dengue cases is swelling Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) reimbursements, turning a seasonal illness into a multibillion-peso strain on both households and the state insurer.
PhilHealth said it paid out 236,232 dengue benefit claims in 2025, amounting to about P3.9 billion.
That is a 44.7-percent jump from 163,209 claims in 2023 and more than double the P1.53 billion disbursed two years earlier.
Perhaps the bigger driver was PhilHealth’s decision to expand its dengue benefit packages, raising the ceiling for mild cases to P19,500 from P10,000, and for severe cases to P47,000 from P16,000.
Even so, coverage falls short of actual costs.
Hospitalization for severe dengue can reach P100,000 or more, leaving patients to shoulder a significant share of expenses.
The heavier economic toll, however, lies beyond hospital bills.
Dengue can sideline patients for up to 10 days, translating into lost income, particularly for daily wage earners.
At prevailing minimum wage rates, lost earnings could approach P1 billion annually if hundreds of thousands of workers are forced to stay home.
With dengue season approaching in June, the question is whether the economy—already battered by geopolitical shocks—can withstand another strain.
For now, the steady rise in claims offers this diagnosis: the Philippines continues to spend more on treatment than on prevention.
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