Thai govt eyes price hike on migrant workers’ health coverage

The Public Health Ministry has proposed an increase in health insurance card prices for migrant workers to bring them closer to the amount the government provides in subsidy for Thai citizens, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Friday.

He explained that health insurance cards for non-Thais currently cost between 1,600 and 2,400 baht per person, while the budget for Thailand’s universal healthcare coverage scheme is approximately 3,800 baht per person per year. 

He said the price adjustment aims to address public concerns that the lower cost of migrant health insurance could encourage workers to take advantage of the Thai healthcare system. 

As of October last year, 309,416 migrant workers and their dependents – primarily from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos – were registered under the migrant health insurance fund. Of these, 262,843 were workers and dependents aged over seven, 39,602 were dependents aged under seven, and 6,971 were general migrants.

Separately, Somsak announced plans to visit Mae Sot Hospital in Tak province next Friday, with the ministry’s permanent secretary to assess the strain on public health workers caused by rising patient numbers. The surge follows the Trump administration’s 90-day suspension of foreign aid funding, which has forced seven hospitals serving refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border to halt medical services for about 100,000 refugees.

Somsak added that his ministry is preparing contingency measures in case the aid suspension extends beyond 90 days, including plans to transfer critically ill patients to Thai hospitals for treatment. 

“The International Rescue Committee is negotiating with the US to lift the suspension,” he said. “As for Thailand, we can only provide humanitarian aid to these refugees, just as we have continued caring for some two million migrant workers who are not under the social security system.” 

He added that border health officials would closely monitor the potential spread of diseases that have not been reported in Thailand for years, such as lymphatic filariasis and cholera.