Government will reimburse private hospital expenses for Covid-19 patients

“Any Coivd-19 related medical treatments or services received at any private hospitals will be reimbursed by the government.” The Public Health Ministry made the announcement on its Facebook page.

The government has warned all private hospitals to not send medical bills to the patient or their families but they should keep all record of Covid-19 medical treatment and send the bills to related agencies for reimbursement.

The Public Health Ministry’s came to this decision after receiving numerous complaints from Covid-19 patients at private hospitals being required to pay high prices for treatment. In some cases, private medical expenses have topped an extortionate 100,000 baht for relatively simple treatments.

The Public Health Ministry has drafted regulations on reimbursement and they have been initially approved by the cabinet and will take effect soon. However, if the patients have health insurance, they are being encouraged to use their policies first before seeking reimbursement from the government.

Earlier, the Department of Health Service Support insisted that the cost of any Covid-19 treatment would be covered by the country’s health security funds. The announcement was signed by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul as president of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), which supervises the universal fund.

The Social Security Office has also published an announcement on regulations and reimbursement of medical fees and service charges for Covid-19 case, which was also approved by the medical committee on the SSO’s board.

For out-patients, the SSO will pay for actual costs of lab tests and personal protective equipment (PPE) used by medical personnel, but no more than 3,000 baht per time.

For in-patients, the announcement covers medical expenses including drug costs capped at 7,200 baht per case and hospital room charges capped at 2,500 baht per day.

The announcement states, if the patients seek treatment at private hospitals, reimbursement will be made in line with the Public Health Ministry’s regulations.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

Stay updated with Samui Times by following us on Facebook.