Cancer Patients: Help You Are Entitled To
Department of Health · assistance
Quick answer
RA 11215 treats cancer patients, people living with cancer and survivors as persons with disabilities, so a PWD ID and the 20% discount apply. It creates a DOH-managed Cancer Assistance Fund, and cancer-related work absences are compensated by SSS sickness or GSIS disability benefits.
Every figure on this page is from official published documents: Supreme Court E-Library, PCSO and SSS.
Last verified 4 sources, listed below
Supreme Court E-Library | Republic Act No. 11215, National Integrated Cancer Control Act1 · PCSO | Medical Assistance Program (MAP)2 · Supreme Court E-Library | Republic Act No. 11463, Malasakit Centers Act3 · SSS | Sickness Benefit4. PHGuides is independent and not affiliated with DOH.
A cancer diagnosis triggers a set of entitlements most people never hear about. The largest of them is not money at all: the law classifies you as a person with disability, which unlocks a standing discount on everything you buy for the rest of your life.
You are a PWD by statute
Section 25 of RA 11215 is one sentence and it does a great deal of work:
Cancer patients, persons living with cancer and cancer survivors are considered as persons with disabilities in accordance with Republic Act No. 7277, as amended, otherwise known as the “Magna Carta for Disabled Persons”.
Section 26 accords them the same rights and privileges as PWDs and directs the DSWD to ensure the social welfare benefits under RA 7277 are granted.
That covers all three states: in treatment, living with cancer, and survivor. It does not lapse when treatment ends.
The practical effect is the 20% discount and the VAT exemption, which are two separate benefits rather than one. Applied correctly on a VAT-inclusive price:
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Posted price, VAT inclusive | ₱1,120.00 |
| VAT removed | ₱1,000.00 |
| Less 20% | ₱800.00 |
| Saving against the posted price | ₱320.00, or 28.6% |
Establishments that apply 20% to the posted price and stop are shortchanging you by ₱96.00 on that example. How to get the card is in the PWD ID guide, and the arithmetic is in the senior and PWD discount calculator.
Section 27 adds a nondiscrimination duty: government agencies shall ensure people living with cancer and survivors are free from any form of discrimination in school, workplace and community.
The Cancer Assistance Fund
Section 20 establishes a Cancer Assistance Fund supporting the cancer medicine and treatment assistance programme. The DOH manages it and reports quarterly to the Office of the President and Congress on its disbursement.
| Managed by | DOH |
| Reporting | Quarterly, to the Office of the President and Congress |
| Where available | Public and private DOH-licensed cancer centres |
| Donations | Exempt from income tax, donor’s tax, and all other taxes, fees and charges |
Section 21 requires that the Fund and PhilHealth benefits be available in DOH-licensed cancer centres, public and private, and that processes to avail of the funding be streamlined to ensure timely provision of cancer care.
What PhilHealth is directed to cover
Section 21 tells PhilHealth to expand its packages across the whole disease course, for all types and stages of cancer, in adults and children:
| Directed coverage |
|---|
| Primary care screening and detection |
| Diagnosis |
| Treatment assistance |
| Supportive care |
| Survivorship follow-up care |
| Rehabilitation |
| End-of-life care |
Plus innovative benefits such as stand-alone chemotherapy infusion centres, ambulatory care, community or home-based palliative care and pain management, and community-based hospice facilities.
One honest caveat. The Act directs the expansion, and any actual benefit must first pass PhilHealth’s own prioritisation process including Health Technology Assessment and an actuarial feasibility study. So confirm what is live today with PhilHealth rather than assuming a package exists because the statute names it. The case rates guide covers how PhilHealth pays, and YAKAP covers the cancer screening side.
Section 22 also splits the population: employees in the informal sector are prioritised in PhilHealth’s cancer control packages, while formal sector employees are offered cost-sharing packages.
If you cannot work
Section 22 is direct about this:
The cancer-related absences from work of member employees as well as voluntary members shall be covered and compensated by the Sickness Benefits of the SSS and Disability Benefits of the GSIS.
For SSS members the sickness benefit is 90% of the average daily salary credit, with a 4-day minimum and a 120-day annual cap. The SSS sickness benefit guide sets out the qualifying conditions and the calculator works out the amount from your own salary credits. Where the condition becomes permanent, the disability benefit is the separate route.
What that is worth, assuming the same monthly salary credit across the 6 highest months. These are this site’s arithmetic on the published formula, not an SSS quotation:
| Monthly salary credit | Average daily salary credit | Daily at 90% | 30 days | 120 days, the annual cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₱10,000 | ₱333.33 | ₱300.00 | ₱9,000 | ₱36,000 |
| ₱15,000 | ₱500.00 | ₱450.00 | ₱13,500 | ₱54,000 |
| ₱20,000 | ₱666.67 | ₱600.00 | ₱18,000 | ₱72,000 |
The ₱20,000 row is the ceiling of the computation rather than the ceiling of what people contribute on.
Your employer has duties too. Section 22 requires a Cancer Control Policy in every workplace, forming part of employee benefits in the formal sector and covering prevention, genetic counselling and testing, screening, diagnosis, palliative care, treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship and hospice care. The Insurance Commission is directed to mandate HMOs to cover genetic counselling and testing, cancer screening, diagnostics and palliative care.
Paying for treatment now
The statute sets the framework. The money on a given week comes from the same counter everyone else uses, the Malasakit Center, where DOH, DSWD, PCSO and PhilHealth sit together and the service is free of charge by law.
PCSO’s cancer requirements are specific, and getting them wrong costs a trip:
| Treatment | What PCSO requires beyond the form and ID |
|---|---|
| Chemotherapy and immunotherapy | Medical abstract issued within 3 months, updated prescription, treatment protocol, and 1 hospital quotation or 3 supplier quotations if the medicine is not stocked |
| Radiation therapy | Abstract, prescription, treatment plan, and 1 official quotation showing the senior citizen, PhilHealth, PWD and HMO deductions |
| Specialty medicines | Abstract or medical certificate, prescription, treatment protocol, quotations as above |
Note the radiation quotation must show the PWD deduction, which is the same entitlement Section 25 gives you. The full checklists are in the PCSO medical assistance guide.
Every physician-signed document needs the doctor’s full name, signature and license number.
Medicines and access
Section 23 directs the FDA to create a dedicated, streamlined licensing process for innovator and generic cancer medication not exceeding 1 year, and requires reforms supporting quick access to drugs for compassionate use.
Section 24 requires the DOH to ensure a sufficient supply of palliative care and pain management medicines at affordable prices, and to monitor that pain medications are safe and correctly dosed.
What this page does not do
It is not medical advice and it cannot tell you which treatment to have. It does not list current PhilHealth cancer packages, because those change through PhilHealth’s own prioritisation process and a stale list would be worse than none.
It also does not cover the National Integrated Cancer Control Council’s governance and registry provisions, which sit in the same Act but do not affect what an individual patient can claim.
Where this goes wrong
Not getting a PWD ID. The status is automatic in law, the card is not, and without it no establishment will apply the discount.
Letting a shop take 20% off the posted price. The VAT comes off first, making the correct saving 28.6%.
Assuming survivors lose the status. Section 25 names survivors explicitly.
Bringing a treatment protocol when radiation needs a treatment plan. PCSO asks for different documents for chemotherapy and radiation.
Assuming a PhilHealth package exists because the law names it. Section 21 directs expansion; each benefit still passes a prioritisation process.
Not claiming sickness benefit for treatment absences. Section 22 puts cancer-related absences squarely under SSS sickness and GSIS disability benefits.
Frequently asked questions
- Am I really considered a PWD?
- Yes, by statute. Section 25 of RA 11215 states that cancer patients, persons living with cancer and cancer survivors are considered as persons with disabilities in accordance with RA 7277, the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons. Section 26 accords them the same rights and privileges as PWDs and directs the DSWD to ensure those benefits are granted.
- What is that worth in money?
- The PWD benefit is a 20% discount and exemption from VAT, and they are two separate benefits. On a VAT-inclusive price the correct saving is 28.6%, not 20%, because the VAT comes off before the discount is applied.
- Does it cover survivors, or only patients in treatment?
- Section 25 names all three: cancer patients, persons living with cancer, and cancer survivors. Section 27 separately requires government agencies to ensure that people living with cancer and survivors are free from discrimination in school, workplace and community.
- What is the Cancer Assistance Fund?
- Section 20 establishes a Cancer Assistance Fund to support the cancer medicine and treatment assistance programme, managed by the DOH, which reports quarterly to the Office of the President and Congress on its disbursement. Section 21 provides that the Fund and PhilHealth benefits are to be made available in public and private DOH-licensed cancer centres.
- What if I have to stop working?
- Section 22 provides that cancer-related absences from work of member employees, as well as voluntary members, are covered and compensated by the Sickness Benefits of the SSS and the Disability Benefits of the GSIS.
- Will PhilHealth cover chemotherapy?
- Section 21 directs PhilHealth to expand its packages to cover screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment assistance, supportive care, survivorship follow-up, rehabilitation and end-of-life care for all types and stages of cancer in adults and children. What is actually live at any moment goes through PhilHealth's own prioritisation process, so confirm current coverage with PhilHealth rather than assuming.
- What does PCSO need for chemotherapy?
- A medical abstract issued within the past 3 months, an updated prescription, the treatment protocol, and one quotation from a hospital willing to accept the guarantee letter, or three supplier quotations if the medicine is not stocked there. Radiation therapy needs a treatment plan instead of a protocol, plus a quotation showing the senior citizen, PhilHealth, PWD and HMO deductions.
- Does my employer have to do anything?
- Section 22 requires a Cancer Control Policy in every workplace, forming part of employee benefits in the formal sector and covering the whole continuum from prevention through treatment to survivorship or hospice care. The Insurance Commission is also directed to mandate HMOs to cover genetic counselling and testing, screening, diagnostics and palliative care.