Plans for civil servant medical scheme must be made public

[webfact]

Plans for civil servant medical scheme must be made public 
By Chularat Saengpassa 
The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- It is now clear that the Finance Ministry is seriously pushing to transfer management of the Civil Servants Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS) to the private sector. 

 

Advocates applaud the move, claiming some 6 million current and retired civil servants and their families will receive the same benefits at a budget the government can afford. 

 

According to the Finance Ministry, CSMBS expenses have soared each year despite efforts to curb costs, and the growing burden on public coffers has made it necessary to transfer health-insurance provision to private companies. Insurance firms would be better able to cut fraud and control the budget. 

 

Critics of the move complain that CSMBS members will end up facing too many restrictions in accessing their rights to medical care. They lament the fact that many retirees had been willing to accept relatively low salaries as junior officials in exchange for guaranteed health security under the CSMBS. 

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30301966

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-12-13

[optad]

Age of entitlement is closing. Get used to it.

[JoePai]

All 3 medical plans should be the same - the civil servant scheme and the other 2 should all be equal