Last May I was interviewed for Stand for Truth: AGAWAN NG GAMOT COVID-19 VS. LUPUS (HCQS Scarcity for Lupus Patients due to COVID-19).
Whereas HCQS is one of the most essential medications of a Lupus patient, this prevents them from having flares that range from moderate to serious cases. After the interview, many people come to me and asked me how much does it costs to have Lupus in the Philippines? Some of these people are my close friends and relatives. While others are people that are just curious about Lupus. I used to joke them that Lupus is a disease for rich people because of its expense. But then, let us try to know what is Lupus, and does it really costs that much?
WHAT IS LUPUS?
Lupus is known to be the disease of Former President Ferdinand Marcos, aside from him there are celebrities who publicly said that they have Lupus such as Selena Gomez, Toni Braxton, Lady Gaga's auntie, Seal, Nick Cannon, and Cindy Frey just to name a few. But what is Lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune disease where our own immune system is confused. Our immune system doesn't efficiently recognize the self or our body instead, it is attacking its own tissues and cells causing diseases to ones' body.
There are three kinds of Lupus, these are:
Discoid Lupus - comes in a characteristic of Skin Lesions, somehow it can also be found to patients with Systemic Lupus. However, discoid lupus can exist independently without Systemic Lupus.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) - most patients when saying they have lupus, they refer to SLE. This type of Lupus affects many parts of the body like the skin, kidneys, brain, heart, joints, bones, and lungs.
Drug-induced Lupus - This is triggered by drug-induced.
Reader's Digest singled out Lupus as one of the top 10 diseases that most doctors miss to diagnose. Making a single patient undergo tons of tests that are required to diagnose him/her. Spending money on these tests are no joke. Every test is explicit and not most hospitals and laboratories have the tests requested for a suspected Lupus patient.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COSTS TO HAVE LUPUS IN THE PHILIPPINES?
I still remember the time that I have to undergo those confirmatory laboratory tests in a hospital in Makati. I used my health insurance to cover most of the tests. Just to give you an idea, not all of the tests are covered by most insurance. It will depend on your company's health insurance and your personal health insurance. You may need to check your healthcare provider about the budget and coverage of your plan. Lastly, by the way, health insurance is different from the life insurance you're paying.
LABORATORY TESTS
To discuss the rates without health insurance the costs of your laboratory tests may range P6,000 pesos to P18,000 pesos. If you will not experience any repeat tests from your doctor this is the first dole out money you needed. Take note that money is all for just some blood samples. However, since Lupus is a type of disease that is hard to diagnose, the first results aren't enough so they may need more tests and more repeated tests just to confirm that your blood work is telling that you got Lupus.
DOCTOR'S FEE
As per discussed Lupus can affect many parts of your body. It means all of your systemic organs may be affected anytime it flare or attack. It means you got multiple doctors. I have a doctor for my heart, kidneys, gastroenterologist, EENT, psychologist to take care of your mental health, and the Lupus doctor called Rheumatologists. Each doctor has different professional fees. Doctor's fees range from P500 to P2500 depending on the specialty services they are offering.
MEDICATIONS
Medications and treatment? Hmm, what an interesting question. Lupus is similar to fingerprints, it is unique to one person. Each case may differ and each patient may have different medications. Medications and treatment will depend on the severity, types of complications, and procedures needed.
Let's see first the oral medicines taken by a patient. Let me example mine, I am taking around 8 different types of medicines. Here are the costs on each tablet:
Cellcept - P134.00/tab x 2 per day
Plaquenil - P86.00/tab x 2 per day
Medrol - P35.00/tab x 2 per day
Coversyl - P33.00/tab x 1 per day
Febuxostat - P24.00/tab x 1 per day
Atorvastatin - P20.00/tab x 1 per day
Sodium Bicarbonate - P6.00/tab x 2 per day
Calcium bicarbonate - P12.00/tab x 1 per day
All you need to do is times the amount per tab to the number of times I take it in a day. Then add them all and times to 31 days which is equal to 1 month of my monthly medication expense. So that's only for the oral medication of someone battling with Lupus.
TREATMENTS
Now, going to the treatment. The treatment will always depend, there are some of us taking dialysis, chemotherapy, physical therapy, or somehow combinations of these treatments. Others have or need operations depending on the organs affected. When do we get the treatment? When do we get the operations? It all depends on how active our Lupus is and how much inflammation and damage it does to our organs.
Treatment may range from 4,500 pesos to 20,000 pesos depending on how frequent the treatment is in a week. Yes in a week! Like dialysis, each session is 4,500 and some of us take it twice or thrice a week. Chemotherapy can be done twice a month or once a month.
OPERATIONS
Lupus patients may have multiple symptoms and complications and there are extents that blood samples aren't enough for doctors to know what Lupus has done to the organs attacked by it. Some people may have AVM, Nephritis, Muscular and Tissues disorders, and many more chronic illnesses to mention and these types of diseases laboratory tests aren't enough. Biopsies are conducted and since multiple organs may be affected, depending on the severity and which organ is greatly affected a Lupus patient may have multiple biopsies. Then the rest may develop cancer along with their lupus. Some just really have terrible damages in the organ caused by lupus and may need correction, ectomy, or any other types of operations. Costing is difficult to estimate as it depends on which hospital you decided to take the procedure. Just to satisfy the curiosity, it may cost P40,000 to millions.
REFLECTION
Let's all admit it, our healthcare in the Philippines is said to evolve, and together with this evolution, the prices of acquiring these medical services are uprising too. Somehow, our Philhealth or government health insurance realistically unable to cover most of our medical expenses. Misfortune for those who don't even have coverage for their Philhealth. Though the Universal Health law started to implement, the people of the Philippines are left behind from the uprising medical services.
People who got their own company's health insurance aren't sure that they'll be working for a long time to their companies, what if they get sick without work and health insurance. Again medical expenses are high. Until when can his/her savings sustain her medical needs?
People who pay their own healthcare with Philhealth may somehow save up money from the medical expense as their insurances can cover them. But medical expenses rises 12% each year, can his insurance be sustainable in the latter years?
What if the people of minority and people of low earning who can get sick too, what if they get Lupus and as you have seen the expenses for it is way too expensive. How they will sustain their medical needs? How long they can manage the disease? Let's all remember that anyone can be affected by Lupus, whether you're rich or poor, you can have Lupus or other diseases.
Not only the people who suffer from Lupus needed proper quality healthcare but also the rest of the Filipinos. We all deserve quality healthcare that we all can afford.
So that's it! That's how costly it is to have Lupus in the Philippines. If you have Lupus, have you ever counted all your medical expenses in a month? In a year? How did you react about it? For me, I always get a headache. Share your experience in the comment.
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