PACC to crack down on officials' medical scams

BANGKOK: -- Many civil servants and military officers-both serving and retired- could face charges of fraud for exploiting governmentsponsored healthcare benefits.

An investigation revealed they had visited various state hospitals to claim expensive medicines.

"Doctors have told us that if they really used all the medicines they received, they would have been dead," Pol Lt Colonel Somboon Sarasit said yesterday.

He is a senior official at the Office of PublicSector AntiCorruption Commission (PACC).

PACC has launched an investigation into how healthcare benefits among officials have been used because the healthcarebenefit scheme has required a suspiciously high budget.

According to the Comptroller General's Department, the budget for the healthcare benefits has increased by at least 15 per cent a year despite a reduction in the number of officials.

As a welfare package, the government has offered its permanent officials, retired or current, and their families free medical treatment.

"Some of the benefit recipients have the government spending Bt1million or Bt2million a year on their medical bills," PACC secretary general Pinyo Thongchai said.

He said the expensive medicines reimbursed were for heart diseases, highblood pressure and diabetes.

"Some benefit recipients clearly visited many state hospitals so they could claim medicines time and again," Pinyo said. He added that most of these questionable officials were from the armed forces.

"We have to step in otherwise honest officials and their families will be affected," Pinyo said.

Somboon said the lack of an integrated online system among state hospitals was a loophole that allowed some officials to exploit the system.

"But the exploiters will be prosecuted," he said.

-- The Nation 2009-11-13

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Haha - This is funny! Its obvious the nursing staff are ripping off the hospitals. Ive even seen doctors and nurses using vitamin and other drip intravenous medications them self. I doubt if they paid for it

Off with their heads...

Why punish them, they are just doing what most officials in Thailand due. Like father like son.

It is amazing that 1 to 2 million is reimbursed to the people receiving the drugs (patient), or is it reimbursed to the hospital (doctor)? The source and past accuracy of this source brings up many questions, prior to making intelligent, informed comment.

Why not just call it the military officers pay supplemental program?

I'm waiting to see which units the officers were from (Army stafff officers from Bangkok?) and their respective ranks (Generals?) and if any of the officers will be charged with fraud.

This just furthers my impresson that the Thai army officer corps is rotten to the core with the rot starting at the top and dripping down to the junior grades.