Better COVID-19 care, more healthcare benefits to be covered by UCS   
in 2022 fiscal year

  
          As COVID-19 remains a major health threat in Thailand, the National Health Security Office (NHSO) has committed to financially supporting the country’s healthcare system to cope better with the coronavirus outbreak, from screening to treatment.

          At the same time, the NHSO will continue improving the healthcare coverage and the quality of services offered under the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS), also known as the “Gold Card” programme.

          The NHSO now is confident the UCS’ benefit package that will be adjusted in the 2022 fiscal year, starting October 1, 2021, will address all healthcare needs in the country’s ongoing battle against COVID-19 and effort to live with it for at least another year, said Dr Jadej Thammatacharee, sSecretary-gGeneral of the NHSO.

                                                

          Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had, in his capacity as the chairman of the National Health Security Board (NHSB), on September 9, 2021 signed the NHSB’s announcements on rules and regulations concerning the management of the National Health Security Fund (NHSF) in the 2022 fiscal year and the reimbursement to healthcare providers for their service delivered under the UCS in 2021.

      In total 198.89 billion baht have been set aside for funding the UCS’ operations, excluding the about 140.55 billion baht earmarked separately for paying as salaries to staff at state-run healthcare units taking part in the UCS.

          Dr Jadej said the core principle in managing the NHSF is to provide as many healthcare benefits as possible to the people who may become financially insecure if they pay for the costs of essential healthcare on their own.

          The 2022 budget will be rearranged in order to cope better with changes in the country’s health situation, he said.

          In the area of health and disease prevention, for instance, it is in the 2022 fiscal year clearly indicated for the first time that the right to receive services in this specific area of healthcare under the UCS belongs to every Thai citizen, he said.
 
          Prenatal care will be provided free of charge to all, not only the people registered under the UCS as in the past, he said.

          Pregnant women who are registered under the Social Security Scheme (SSS) will even be able to choose to receive prenatal care at healthcare units they normally receive other services under the SSS, while the NHSO will take care of reimbursing the costs of the prenatal care service for those SSS care providers, he said.

           The fund of about 2.8 billion baht earmarked for financing health promotion and prevention at the area level will in this new fiscal year be allocated directly to more than 7,000 local administrative organisations nationwide, he said, adding that this type of funds was previously included into the capitation budget.

          As for new health benefits that will be included into the core benefit package of the UCS in this fiscal year, oral cancer screening will be one of them, he said, adding that patients will be screened for oral cancer when visiting a dentist for dental care.

          Minimally Iinvasive Ssurgery or MIS, in which patients can go home in the same day of the operation or rest in the hospital for only one day and will be then discharged the following day, will also be covered by the UCS for various treatments, he said.

          They will possibly include laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery to examine the digestive system, minimally invasive surgery to inspect the gall bladder, laparoscopic surgery to correct a ruptured eardrum, laparoscopy to inject substances to treat inflammation of vocal cords, and laparoscopic surgery to insert dialysis catheters for kidney patients, he said.

          When these surgery procedures are included into the UCS’ benefit package, care providers will be given incentive to try shortening, where appropriate, the period of time each patient needs to stay in the hospital after in-patient treatment, which in a way comes with a higher risk of contracting other diseases such as COVID-19.

          Public access to the rapid antigen test kit for COVID-19 and the standard test for the coronavirus infection, which are crucial for detecting new infections, will improve greatly in this new fiscal year, so will support for the home and community-based care for people infected with the virus and the care along with financial assistance for the people suffering unwanted side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine being offered under the government’s vaccination drive, he said. 

          In the past the longer the hospital kept a UCS patient, the more money they got paid from the healthcare scheme for its service, he said.

          In diabetes care, the NHSO will focus more on young patients with diabetes or ones who need to depend more on insulin injection, he said.

          Blood sugar test kits and portable blood sugar monitors will be provided to them to help these patients keep track of their glucose levels at home, he said.

          In cancer care, more cancer drugs and other related medical supplies will be covered if approved by a panel of cancer treatment experts who will also be tasked with inspecting the treatment standards of medical institutions taking part in the UCS’ universal cancer treatment programme, he said.

          Several new health benefits that will be added to the UCS’ core benefit package are costly yet necessary, for the sake of ensuring patients’ access to essential treatments, he said.