Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) beneficiaries may be able to access primary dental care at any health unit regardless of their registries soon. 
 
Dr Athaporn Limpanyalers, Deputy Secretary-General of National Health Security Office (NHSO) which oversees the UCS, revealed that the NHSO’s working group on dental care access is working on a proposal that will allow the scheme beneficiaries to get primary oral health services at any healthcare access points.

 
Currently, beneficiaries can only receive dental care at the hospitals or clinics where they are registered with a condition that presents obstacles for those living far from theese facilities or those who have relocated.
 
As a result, many people arediscouraged from seeking primary dental care which could helps them mitigate  the risk of severe oral health problems.
 

Primary dental care is the services provided by general dentists that exclude dental specialties. They include tooth extraction, filling, and scaling. 
 
Last year, the NHSO piloted a new health policy “Outpatient Everywhere” in Bangkok, which permits UCS beneficiaries to access primary care at any hospital irrespective of their registration status.
 
To implement thispolicy, the NHSO adopted a new reimbursement guideline that allows hospitals to claim the fees from the NHSO even though the patients do not register at the hospitals.
 

The movement is part of Thailand’s healthcare reforms that aim to improve timely and quality access to primary care.
 
It will also reduce the healthcare burden in the long run as primary care focuses on health promotion and preventive care.
   
Observing the launch of the Outpatient Everywhere policy, the working group on dental care access sees the opportunity to adopt a similar model for primary dental services.
 
Its study suggests that to implement this policy in dental services, the reimbursement system should be based on fee schedule payment, and use electronic claims to accelerate transactions.   
 
The number of UCS beneficiaries receiving dental care increased from 3.97 million in 2016 to 4.49 million in 2019.
 
The top five services provided were dental extraction, scaling, filling, X-ray, and digital dentistry.
 

“Our data shows that people seeking oral health services increased year by year. This indicates that many people will benefit from the working group’s proposal,” said Dr Athaporn, also the chairman of the working group.
 
“We will continue working on a proposal to make it materialized.” 
 
He added that many people believeoral health problems are not urgent. However neglecting them may lead to severe health conditions --- including tooth loss which can impact dietary habits and self-esteem.
 
Moreever, gum disease is associated with an increased risks of numerous health conditions, including heart disease, hypertension, and some types of cancer.