Payment of Bt30 medical fee to be left up to patients

PONGPHON SARNSAMAK

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The government will re-launch the Bt30 healthcare scheme - with the decision on whether to pay Bt30 towards their medical bill being left up to the patients - by September 1.

The announcement followed the National Health Security Office (NHSO)'s executive board meeting yesterday, which studied methods to implement the Bt30 co-payment scheme at all hospitals across the country.

Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra initiated the scheme in 2002 in order to provide universal healthcare to more than 48 million people, and the military-installed government abolished the fee in 2006, making the service free.

Since April, the NHSO's board has been reviewing whether to renew the Bt30 scheme or provide treatment free of charge. It has been studying a model that would collect small co-payments from patients.

The executive board yesterday came up with a resolution to allow patients registered with the National Health Security Office to make their own decision on whether they want to pay Bt30 for treatment received under the universal healthcare scheme.

The plan to collect Bt30 from patients was postponed from August 1 to September 1 because the NHSO was unprepared to implement the plan. Under the Bt30 co-payment scheme, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said patients will be asked to pay Bt30 when they start receiving medical treatment in hospital. If they do not want to pay Bt30 towards their medical bill, they will be asked to state this in writing at the healthcare units.

Patients will receive medical treatment under the scheme at all state hospitals across the country, except healthcare promotion and prevention hospitals, because these units are not ready to provide such treatment and lack physicians.

The ministry expects that about 22 million people will be exempt from payments altogether, as they are members of exceptional groups including the elderly, disabled people, single people, people with monthly income of Bt2,000 or less, village headmen and blood donors.

"We want them [patients] to [have the option of paying] because we are concerned about their dignity," Witthaya said.

However, NHSO's board also instructed the Public Health Ministry to prepare healthcare units to collect money from patients for medical bills and provide treatment under the scheme.

-- The Nation 2012-07-11

So rather than the loss making plan to collect 30 baht, they're making it an even more loss making plan by collecting written statements instead.

Ridiculous.

Sent from my shoe phone

T.I.T. no other country in the world would come up with such nonsense

These written statements (yes, it would cost Baht to collect those, and file and maintain the files, and with no clear purpose) could therefore be interpreted as formal requests (or acknowledgments) for a lower standard of service. The 30 baht fee, if optional, then becomes and "under-table-like" transaction, to obtain a minimum level of service, and while not compulsory, non-payment could result in disadvantaged access to healthcare. Patients not paying the fee could be discriminated against, even though the fee costs more to collect than it's worth. Its getting even weirder, day by day. Who dreams this stuff up?

Edited July 11, 201213 yr by Reasonableman

Single people (or should it be "single parents"?) are exempt from payment? I fail to comprehend why. Because they have more disposable income per capita than families with children. With 22 million exempt, the purpose of this fiasco is becoming even muddier. In addition, healthcare staff will have to determine whether the presenting patient is one of the 22 million or not. Is this a bad dream?

Yes, more meaningless jobs for bureaucrats, more state funds sent to the offices of the bureaucrats, more state funds going missing along the way. The ghost of Thaksin returns to poison society again, raised from the depths of the underworld by hordes of chanting rod-robed PTP necromancers.

Edited July 11, 201213 yr by Yunla

Is it too much to hope for paying visa fees and length of stay for foreigners to be left up to them?

OK...it's early, I haven't had my coffee, and I'm having a 1960s flashback.

Maybe they hope that Thais will willingly pay 30 baht rather than face the torture of filling in some extensive form that is pointless and time intensive. Still, you cannot make any budgetary plans on such a system, the amount of money you make is a lottery and also wide open to people palming off large amounts of money and having it replaced with forged documentation.

Is this announcement from the Ministry of Making It Up As You Go.

No thought or analysis given to this promise before it was made, and constant fudging and flip flopping after implementation.

I think I have reached <deleted> Level 4.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. <deleted>.

new meaning to the great Thai-English phrase "up to you"

new meaning to the great Thai-English phrase "up to you"

Which actually means, if I am not happy with what you do, don't blame me.

Just wondering if anyone ever heard of anything about the fact that expat retirees in Thailand can register for hospital care as Thai citizens do? I find it hard to believe but a friend of mine heard it from a very prominent physician in Bangkok. Anybody else heard anything similar?

The Sarayudh govt scrapped the 30 baht payment, based on its claim that the admin cost of collecting it was more than 30 baht. There clearly is a cost in collecting it although it might be a bit less than 30 baht. The main intention was for the coup installed government to go one better than Thaksin by providing free medical care, although they didn't get much credit for that.

The Sarayudh govt scrapped the 30 baht payment, based on its claim that the admin cost of collecting it was more than 30 baht. There clearly is a cost in collecting it although it might be a bit less than 30 baht. The main intention was for the coup installed government to go one better than Thaksin by providing free medical care, although they didn't get much credit for that.

Unless you have some proof of that, you are just blowing irrelevant political smoke. In fact, even if it were true, it doesn't change the economics.

You figure it out. How much labor is involved in collecting the 30 Baht (< US$1), and how much labor, paper and delay is involved in processing the exemptions? What's the benefit? To prevent the poor from overusing the system? Well, it won't achieve that, because they'll be exempt. To get the wealthy to pay? How many of the wealthy will want to use the 30 Baht service? To defray the costs of medical care for all? Well, if it costs more to administer than to collect, who will be the beneficiaries of this 30 baht fee? At present, it is as clear as mud.

Edited July 11, 201213 yr by Reasonableman

And falangs can also be on the 30 baht health care program if there names are on the yellow book house paper!

Just wondering if anyone ever heard of anything about the fact that expat retirees in Thailand can register for hospital care as Thai citizens do? I find it hard to believe but a friend of mine heard it from a very prominent physician in Bangkok. Anybody else heard anything similar?

true. if you have a yellow house book, you can also avail of free medical care and dental. I have it and have been offered free dental but opted to pay for it. one filling and a clean up only 300 baht. forgot to mention I am on a non-0 marriage..not retirement.

Just wondering if anyone ever heard of anything about the fact that expat retirees in Thailand can register for hospital care as Thai citizens do? I find it hard to believe but a friend of mine heard it from a very prominent physician in Bangkok. Anybody else heard anything similar?

Yes he is correct.

The Sarayudh govt scrapped the 30 baht payment, based on its claim that the admin cost of collecting it was more than 30 baht. There clearly is a cost in collecting it although it might be a bit less than 30 baht. The main intention was for the coup installed government to go one better than Thaksin by providing free medical care, although they didn't get much credit for that.

Unless you have some proof of that, you are just blowing irrelevant political smoke. In fact, even if it were true, it doesn't change the economics.

You figure it out. How much labor is involved in collecting the 30 Baht (< US$1), and how much labor, paper and delay is involved in processing the exemptions? What's the benefit? To prevent the poor from overusing the system? Well, it won't achieve that, because they'll be exempt. To get the wealthy to pay? How many of the wealthy will want to use the 30 Baht service? To defray the costs of medical care for all? Well, if it costs more to administer than to collect, who will be the beneficiaries of this 30 baht fee? At present, it is as clear as mud.

I agree with his statement they wanted red shirts to like them.

Yuh ... this makes no sense to me either...

Better than the B1,000 tourists get ripped of for just walking through the door of Patong Hospital!

Just wondering if anyone ever heard of anything about the fact that expat retirees in Thailand can register for hospital care as Thai citizens do? I find it hard to believe but a friend of mine heard it from a very prominent physician in Bangkok. Anybody else heard anything similar?

true. if you have a yellow house book, you can also avail of free medical care and dental. I have it and have been offered free dental but opted to pay for it. one filling and a clean up only 300 baht. forgot to mention I am on a non-0 marriage..not retirement.

You have a yellow house book in your name for a house, land or condo ?

Just wondering as I am also non -0 married and I like it that way.

30-Baht scheme, additional bureaucracy, no benefit to the sick and/or poor, but the major advantage of havig been started by our sainted and may he be blessed k. Thaksin. Clearly and obviously much better than when the Junta appointed government decided to make the health service free to avoid money loosing and unnecessary paperwork. Totally irrelevant, almost un-Thai in it's aim at efficiency.