No hospital charges for COVID-19 patients
 
National Health Security Office (NHSO) urges hospital operators not to charge COVID-19 patients for any health services. Thai government will reimburse the hospitals for any expense incurred.
 
With the rising COVID-19 cases in Thailand, hospital beds and facilities are in high demand, especially in Bangkok, where the new coronavirus cluster was detected early April. 
 
NHSO Secretary-General Dr Jadej Thammathat-Aree said that hospitals providing treatment to COVID-19 patients will be reimbursed.
 
The sources of the reimbursement fund come from the Thai government's three healthcare schemes; Universal Coverage Scheme (run by the NHSO), Social Security Scheme (run by Social Security Office), and Civil Servant Medical Benefits (run by the Comptroller General's Department).  
 
Currently, the NHSO pays the cost of COVID-19 testing for every Thai regardless of their registered healthcare schemes. If a person is tested positive, an operator of a healthcare scheme that person registered with will reimburse the hospitals for the cost of providing treatment.
 



"Thai government makes a strong commitment to supporting every COVID-19 patient and hospital nationwide," said Dr Jadej, responding to the reports on social media that find hospital operators charged the patients.
 
Both public and private hospital operators can process the claims with healthcare scheme operators if the schemes' beneficiaries admit to their hospitals. If patients have private insurance, the health service fees shall be paid by the insurance companies first. The schemes' operators will reimburse the additional cost.
 
Any hospital operator will receive approximately 800,000 baht for providing treatment to a severe COVID-19 patient. Around 400,000 baht will be paid for treating an uncritical patient.
Thai government reimburses the hospital operators for the following items.
 
1. Outpatient service
-Lab test and specimen collection.
-COVID-19 treatment (a maximum of 7,200 baht/case) 
-Patient transfer service (depends on travel distance)
-Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and cleaner (a maximum of 3,700 baht/case) 
 
2. Inpatient service
-Lab test and specimen collection.
-COVID-19 treatment (a maximum of 7,200 baht/case) 
-Hospital room charge (2,500 baht/day/case)
-Hospitel, cohort ward, or camp isolation (1,500 baht/day/case)
-Patient transfer service (depends on travel distance)
-Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and cleaner (a maximum of 3,700 baht/case)
-Protective suit (740 baht/unit) 
-Medical and protective equipment used for patients with few symptoms (11,100 baht/day/case) 
-Medical and protective equipment used for patients in severe conditions (22,200 baht/day/case) 
 
3. Laboratory test 
-Nasopharyngeal/throat swab specimen test RT-PCR (1,600 baht/test, 600 baht for staff compensation, and 100 baht for specimen collection.) 
- Combination of RT-PCR such as; saliva sample test (320 baht/test, 100 baht for staff fees, and 100 baht for specimen collection), nasopharyngeal/throat swab specimen test (400 baht/test, 75 baht for staff fees, and 100 baht for specimen collection), and repeat RT-PCR for persons having positive test results (1,600 baht/test, 200 baht for staff fees and specimen collection)
-Antigen test (a maximum of 1,200 baht/test)
-Antibody test (a maximum of 350 baht/test)