Combine all 3 medical welfare funds to combat inequality: consumer watchdog
The Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) has urged the incoming government to tackle social inequality by combining all three medical welfare funds.
Thailand’s universal healthcare system is currently split into three parts: the Universal Coverage Scheme (gold card, covering over 70% of the population), Social Security Scheme, and the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme covering government officials and their dependents.
The per-patient budget varies widely from scheme to scheme.
TCC secretary-general Saree Ongsomwang said on Wednesday that all Thai patients should have access to the same quality of treatment.
She highlighted glaring inequalities across the three schemes when it comes to medical treatment and hospital care.
For instance, civil servants get up to 2,000 baht per kidney dialysis treatment for an unlimited time, she explained. However, Social Security Scheme patients are limited to 1,500 baht for the same treatment three times a week, while gold card holders get coverage of 1,500-1,700 baht per time for unlimited treatment.
Meanwhile, civil servants can receive treatment at all government hospitals, but social security and gold card patients must receive treatment at participating government and private hospitals, except in case of emergency, she said.
She said compensation for treatment errors is available only for gold card holders.
Also, insurance contributions made by social security patients cover only one-third of the scheme’s budget, with the rest paid by the government and employers, she added.
Saree pointed out that Article 51 of the Constitution states that Thai citizens have equal rights to appropriate and standardised public health services.
She said the inequalities that currently exist for patients under different schemes make people question whether Thailand’s universal healthcare system violates the Constitution.
