Thai govt finding ways to lower fees at private hospitals

[webfact]

Govt finding ways to lower fees at private hospitals

 

FILE photo

 

BANGKOK, 27th December 2018 (NNT) – The government is adamant that drugs and medical supplies be added to the list of controlled products and services in the hope of lowering medical bills at private hospitals. 

Commerce Minister Sonthirat Sonthijirawong convened a meeting on Wednesday with representatives of the Ministry of Public Health and private hospitals including BNH Hospital, Bangpakok 3 Hospital, Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital, Mongkutwattana Hospital, and Vibhavadi Hospital as well as the Thai Life Assurance Association, the Thai General Insurance Association, and the Foundation for Consumers. 

The meeting discussed the possibility of regulating the prices of medical supplies and service fees at private hospitals. 

Wichai Pochanakit, the Director General of the Department of Internal Trade, said the meeting proposed that medical supplies and services be added to the list of products and services for which prices are regulated by the Ministry of Commerce. The proposal will be presented to the Central Committee on Goods and Services this January 9th. 

In the meantime, an ad hoc sub-committee will be appointed to standardize the prices of medical supplies and health service fees based on the actual costs, according to Wichai. 

Wichai expects the details to be finalized in three months. 

Saree Aongsomwang, the Secretary General of the Foundation for Consumers, asked government agencies to step up their PR campaigns to inform the public of their rights and entitlement to medical services.

 

-- nnt 2018-12-27

[Justgrazing]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

The meeting discussed the possibility of regulating the prices of medical supplies and service fees at private hospitals

That'll be like whacking a molehill then because if they cap it in these area's the Hospitals will just put it on something else .. They are not going to treat people for less than they do now .. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by Justgrazing
Sp

[BEVUP]

25 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

That'll be like whacking a molehill then because if they cap it in these area's the Hospitals will just put it on something else .. They are not going to treat people for less than they do now .. 

Governments can't control them as they are private (just like Insurance companies that have the world wrapped up )

If they were to be successful, & hospitals that usually are being paid through Insurance companies, the later would only pay for Gov. (so called pricing ) leaving a GAP to be paid (like Auss )

 

OR the insurance companies would increase fees to eliminate the GAP cost 

 

[Cricky]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

in the hope of lowering medical bills at private hospitals. 

 

These venues are not hospitals, they are businesses that have patients.

Irresponsible health care providers 

Big money spinner. Reckless pricing.

[Classic Ray]

They could start with I/V saline, manufacturer cost about 30 baht, hospital charge 750 baht plus the cost of the tube and needle!

[shady86]

300baht for temperature and weight check. Good business!

[khunJeroen]

Find it weird. They are private and therefore the market set the prices in a way and further up to them. You can also go to a government restructured hospital if you wish. Anyhow if you have a good insurance plan it will cover most of the costs normally. Only if you have long term treatment you must be careful you not exceed the limit.  

[robblok]

1 hour ago, Classic Ray said:

They could start with I/V saline, manufacturer cost about 30 baht, hospital charge 750 baht plus the cost of the tube and needle!

Yes and the building and electricity and other general costs are free.. i mean you should look at the bigger picture. But yes its expensive but you cant just compare buy and sell price without looking at other components of the price.

[Ossy]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Wichai expects the details to be finalized in three months. 

Great to see that this health issue is getting the usual impetus from our comatose cabinet. Three months, for heaven's sake . . . what sort of time-scale is needed to address the two different sub-issues? Requiring that private hospitals use and charge for the same drugs and supplies as the national service sounds fair and should be written-up in 5-minutes, whereas the services cost issue is one that, in my view, they should accept as being beyond their control; the private hospitals being trusted to run their facilities in a businesslike way, i.e. in 'healthy' competition with each other. Provided there isn't a cartel system in operation, I would think there's little else the authorities can do.

 

Perhaps they'd better just concentrate on improving and speeding up the dreadfully tardy state hospital provision.

[bheard]

All seems a bit extreme - just crank up the prices for farangs and medical tourism - that would fix it.

Sent from my G8441 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Ossy]

3 hours ago, VYCM said:

they are businesses

And they're competing against other businesses and that should be where a line of acceptance is drawn.

[Darcula]

If it's going to lower the cost of hot sponge baths given by pretty young nurses, they might achieve their dream of becoming a medical hub.

[Ossy]

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, since I can't see what all the fuss is about. For those for whom the state service isn't good/quick enough and, if they fall into the tiny proportion of people who can afford private hospital care, they can take the 'private' route. The choice is theirs and they should, therefore, not grumble.

 

Perhaps I've been lucky in having emergency injury treatment, as well as dental treatment that I couldn't praise highly enough, although my Thai wife tells me, when she goes to collect a relative's meds, that queues have got longer and longer, over the past 3 years especially.

 

Looking on the cynical, anti-junta side that I normally do, perhaps the problem is that the state system - like other state systems, police, welfare provision, education, et al - is going the same way as education, the other once respectable profession . . . doctors and nurses see government top dogs getting away with murder and think, "Mmm, I'll have a bit of that, thanks," and they take a 20 rather than a 10 minute coffee break.

Good and proper management, right from the very top and down through every level and department, is the only way to mend things and this could only come with a new and committed government that actually cares about the 94% of people who have to depend on the state for their comforting.

Edited December 27, 2018 by Ossy
omisson

[pennine]

2 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

They could start with I/V saline, manufacturer cost about 30 baht, hospital charge 750 baht plus the cost of the tube and needle!

And Warfarin tablets at 20 baht each compared to 8 baht at the a pharmacy. A valid comparison.

[connda]

Set up a two-tier price structure where foreigners are charged 5 times as much as a Thai, which will subsidize lower charges for Thai people. 

[klauskunkel]

The price for medicine at a well-known Bangkok (H)hospital is marked up 1000% when compared to exactly the same medicine at my local pharmacy.

[balo]

Nothing will happen .  I always tell the doctor I buy my medicine outside in the pharmacy. That's your choice , unfortunately most people are not aware of this and trust the hospital.  

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Governments can't control them as they are private (just like Insurance companies that have the world wrapped up )

If they were to be successful, & hospitals that usually are being paid through Insurance companies, the later would only pay for Gov. (so called pricing ) leaving a GAP to be paid (like Auss )

 

OR the insurance companies would increase fees to eliminate the GAP cost 

 

Well yes but they need a license to operate as a hospital.

 

And the government can, if they want to, consider this a regulated industry and set maximum.

 

Given that you can get quite acceptable professional care at one private hospital for say 1,000  and that hospital makes profit, but other places charge 5,000Baht then why shouldn't they be brought under maximum pricing especially where customers are not well informed and don't realize there's such a massive difference in pricing and fees?  

 

Yeah I know that smacks of socialism which of course to some folks means the world will end.  

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2018 by scorecard

[Bob12345]

Maybe they should stop skimming off the government hospital budget, so quality and staffing can improve, and nobody feels the need anymore to go to an expensive private hospital.

 

Ever wondered how private hospitals can be immensely expensive and still busy? 

[Benmart]

6 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

That'll be like whacking a molehill then because if they cap it in these area's the Hospitals will just put it on something else .. They are not going to treat people for less than they do now .. 

I cannot tell the future and have yet to me anyone else that can.

[Sydebolle]

It‘s not the private hospitals only; the whole health care system went down the halligalli.

I - for one - am a layman once it comes to health care, i.e. I cannot distinguish a professional experienced doctor from a fake wannabe - and it is not only the language.

So I resort to private hospitals for the simple reason that they have a reputation to lose and hence might be able to screen their staff certainly better than me. 

Where all of us can make a difference is i.e. getting a prescription and fill it up outside the hospital pharmacy. The difference between Bangkok Pattaya hospital and Fascino is approx. 50%. Taking the network of Fascino all over Thailand, usually manned with a pharmacists (apart from those pretty useless „helpers“ working like satellites around them) and them still being in business I would assume that the take on medicines from the hospital pharmacy is a killer. 20 years ago I asked the Bumrungrad Hospital to explain an equal big gap in pricing and I even got an answer; it referred to the fact, that they had to stock all that stuff for all cases which increased the costs. Well, outside pharmacies have the same issue - never went back. 

On check-out you are first asked to pay and then get your prescription filled. Look at the bill, return it and say „no medicine“. They will reply that everything has been prepared and stickered already - insist on a prescription. A new bill comes, with a prescription, and if this is practiced more often they might consider lowering their highway robbery mark-up. 

[soalbundy]

17 hours ago, connda said:

Set up a two-tier price structure where foreigners are charged 5 times as much as a Thai, which will subsidize lower charges for Thai people. 

I thought they did that already