72-hour emergency treatment for free at any hospital

[rooster59]

72-hour emergency treatment for free at any hospital

By Pratch Rujivanarom
The Nation

 

 

Under the new scheme, emergency patients can receive free medical service for the first 72 hours at any hospital before they are transferred to their registered hospital on their medical scheme.

 

STARTING FROM today, emergency patients can go to any hospital for 72 hours free emergency treatment, the Public Health Ministry has announced.

Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said yesterday that the ministry has launched the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) policy.

 

Piyasakol said that to cover the medical bill for the first 72 hours, the ministry has consulted with all relevant agencies and private hospitals to set up a rate for emergency treatment costing more than Bt3,000. The hospital can draw money from the medical scheme that the patient is registered to.

 

“People do not have to worry. If their illness is urgent, they can go to any hospital and receive free treatment for the first 72 hours, and then they will be transferred to the hospital that they registered with for treatment on their own scheme, or they can stay at the private hospital at their own expense,” he said.

 

The Public Health Minister also said that the ministry has arranged with public hospitals to prepare the room for emergency patients. He added that any private hospital that refuses to take care of emergency patients for free in the first 72 hours will be punished by law.

 

Air Vice Marshal Chalermporn Boonsiri, head of Thai College of Emergency Physicians, said that information will be placed in front of the emergency section of each hospital to clarify the definition of an emergency illness.

 

Chalermporn said that the National Institute for Emergency Medicine will rule on any dispute over what kind of illness can be considered an emergency.

 

Private Hospital Association president Dr Pongphat Patanavanich said private hospitals are ready to take care of emergency patients for free.

 

He stressed, however, that patients who decide to continue treatment at private hospitals beyond the first 72 hours will have to pay the exceeding medical bill by themselves.

 

Thai Medical Error Network director Preeyanan Lorsermvattana said that she was glad the Public Health Ministry had arrived at the policy and said authorities had made the right decision to solve the problems of emergency medical care.

 

“One of the good things in this policy is that there are punishments for private hospitals if they turn down an emergency patient. Moreover, there is a system to seek room for the transferred patients after receiving emergency treatment for 72 hours,” Preeyanan said.

 

“I have to thank all the people who are behind this progress. From now on, we are letting the system work and we will monitor for any problems that may occur.”

 

She added that Thailand still did not have enough emergency physicians and it was important that everyone should take good care of their health so they will not become an emergency patient.

 

This policy has been made legal on the auxiliary regulations, which were effective on April 1 onward.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30310958

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-04-01

[AGareth2]

interested in seeing the list of medical conditions

[stevecm]

3 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

interested in seeing the list of medical conditions

 

1. Rigor mortis.

That's the list.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I''m half tempted to think this is The Nation's version of TVF's April Fool's Day celebration.  But in this case, I THINK it's a legitimate news report.

 

I'm presuming from the report above, though, that this won't apply to a lot of farangs. Since we are not, as a general rule, except perhaps for those covered by Thai Social Security, covered by the Thai government's medical coverage system. Nor do most of us have a Thai government hospital where we're registered under the Thai government scheme.

[AGareth2]

those who pay for SS are

[robblok]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I''m half tempted to think this is The Nation's version of TVF's April Fool's Day celebration.  But in this case, I THINK it's a legitimate news report.

 

I'm presuming from the report above, though, none of this applies to farangs. Since we are not, as a general rule, covered by the Thai government's medical coverage system, nor do most of us have a Thai government hospital where we're registered under the Thai government scheme.

Of course this does not cover foreigners.. your right 100% with your points.

[AGareth2]

^ why not?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, robblok said:

Of course this does not cover foreigners.. your right 100% with your points.

But, it is good to know for the Thai wife, especially those who may be registered at a home province away from where they actually live.

 

For example, it appears from the news report that my wife (living in central BKK) would be able to go to Bumrungrad for free emergency treatment (for emergency illnesses that are NOT listed or described in the article) at least for the first 72 hours.

 

It sure would have been nice if they had included some description about what kinds of medical situations are going to be covered under this new policy -- other than rigor mortis!!!

[AGareth2]

please explain why a foreigner holding a gov med card is not going to get it

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

those who pay for SS are

Ya, I said farangs who are NOT part of the Thai government's medical insurance scheme. But I guess I did go too far is saying "none" of this would apply to farangs....

 

It's interesting, though, that the OP article didn't distinguish between the 3 different flavors of Thai governmental medical insurance: the universal coverage 30 baht group, the employed Social Security group and the Thai government civil service group.

 

Can't really tell for certain if this new policy would apply to people in any of those three groups, or just some, such as the 30 baht group.

 

 

 

[robblok]

8 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

But, it is good to know for the Thai wife, especially those who may be registered at a home province away from where they actually live.

 

For example, it appears from the news report that my wife (living in central BKK) would be able to go to Bumrungrad for free emergency treatment (for emergency illnesses that are NOT listed or described in the article) at least for the first 72 hours.

 

It sure would have been nice if they had included some description about what kinds of medical situations are going to be covered under this new policy -- other than rigor mortis!!!

Yes it is.. but i think the the private hospitals like Bumrungrad wont be happy with this. It would be nice indeed to have a list.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes it is.. but i think the the private hospitals like Bumrungrad wont be happy with this.

 

That's what I would tend to think also... But in the article, we do have the following individual being quoted:

 

Quote

 

Private Hospital Association president Dr Pongphat Patanavanich said private hospitals are ready to take care of emergency patients for free.

 

He stressed, however, that patients who decide to continue treatment at private hospitals beyond the first 72 hours will have to pay the exceeding medical bill by themselves.

 

 

Be interesting to see how long this policy lasts, if it really is implemented in the real world, and just how broad or narrow the list of covered emergency conditions ends up being.

 

What do you wanna bet, if you wait a few weeks and then stop by your local private hospital emergency room and inquire, that the staff there tell you they have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

interested in seeing the list of medical conditions

 

Does emergency conditions mean personal non accident medical conditions or does it include urgent medical attention because of a vehicle or other accident?

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, robblok said:

Yes it is.. but i think the the private hospitals like Bumrungrad wont be happy with this. It would be nice indeed to have a list.

 

Indeed, and does it include foreigners living in Thailand, and foreign tourists?

[whoareyou]

Of course this does not cover foreigners.. your right 100% with your points.

It Alread covers foreigners, you will get emergency treatment even without a CC. The catch is most emergency treatment can take weeks so you gonna be charged at a high higher rate to cover the 72 hour freebee

 

[Dan5]

6 hours ago, robblok said:

Of course this does not cover foreigners.. your right 100% with your points.

The article doesn't say anything about having to be covered by government medical plans to be covered for this emergency care. Do you have some special knowledge of this to be able to say foreigners are definitely not covered?

[robblok]

1 minute ago, Dan5 said:

The article doesn't say anything about having to be covered by government medical plans to be covered for this emergency care. Do you have some special knowledge of this to be able to say foreigners are definitely not covered?

No.. its an assumption because in previous articles it was always about Thais and the 30 bt scheme.. 

 

 

I could be totally wrong. 

[AGareth2]

24 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

The article doesn't say anything about having to be covered by government medical plans to be covered for this emergency care. Do you have some special knowledge of this to be able to say foreigners are definitely not covered?

it talks about your nominated hospital

(under the govt scheme)

[taiping]

I'm a retired farang with a yellow Tabian Bahn book with my name it it.

A few years ago I used the TB book to register with a designated government hospital under the 30 baht scheme. This took several phone calls to the government health hot line and a phone discussion between them and the designated hospital, who at first refused to register me.

I've never used this service because the designated hospital is some way from where I live.

But I see nothing in the article to suggest I would not be covered under the 72 hour emergency treatment rule at any hospital. It would be interesting to know if it works as described for me, but more likely I would be met with incredulous looks by the private hospital staff. Just wondering.

 

[starky]

7 hours ago, robblok said:

Of course this does not cover foreigners.. your right 100% with your points.

Of course it doesnt cover foreigners but ya telling me some broke Thai can rock into the best Thai private hospital emergency room and get treatment for 72 hours..lets just say im dubious at best

[robblok]

9 minutes ago, starky said:

Of course it doesnt cover foreigners but ya telling me some broke Thai can rock into the best Thai private hospital emergency room and get treatment for 72 hours..lets just say im dubious at best

agree .. lets watch and see

 

[TerryLH]

"please explain why a foreigner holding a gov med card is not going to get it"

 

What do you mean by a 'gov med card'?  30 baht gold card scheme, SS, or civil service coverage?

(For general info:  Under my CS coverage, they didn't give me a card.  When I asked about it, they told me I'm on the computer and don't need a card.  Apparently that info is accessible for all government hospitals.  I forget what they told me about using private hospitals.)  

 

 

 

"The article doesn't say anything about having to be covered by government medical plans to be covered for this emergency care. Do you have some special knowledge of this to be able to say foreigners are definitely not covered?"

 

But they do say; "...emergency patients can receive free medical service for the first 72 hours at any hospital before they are transferred to their registered hospital on their medical scheme."  in the sub title, repeated in the story.

 

That seems to say that if you do have a 'medical scheme', you'd be covered.  Whether that would include private insurance, which might not be hospital specific to begin with, is anybody's guess.  If you are covered by a Thai government scheme, it implies you'd be covered.

 

Just my thoughts...

Terry

 

PS

"I'm a retired farang with a yellow Tabian Bahn book with my name it it.

A few years ago I used the TB book to register with a designated government hospital under the 30 baht scheme."

 

Those registering for that were done by mistake.  There was confusion who it applied to.  Turns out it was intended as a program for workers from the countries surrounding Thailand.  Many had to pay 2800 for some tests and registering.  Most of those had the money returned when the mistakes were corrected.  Some were not.  There is at least one who to this day claims he's still able to access free services.

For the most part, the registration was intended for one year at a time, so would be long past the expire by date.

 

Some people think they must be getting special deals because of how cheap routine services are at government hospitals.  

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Dan5 said:

The article doesn't say anything about having to be covered by government medical plans to be covered for this emergency care. Do you have some special knowledge of this to be able to say foreigners are definitely not covered?

Yes, it does...if you understand how Thai government health insurance works.
 

Quote

 

Under the new scheme, emergency patients can receive free medical service for the first 72 hours at any hospital before they are transferred to their registered hospital on their medical scheme.

 

Quote

 

“People do not have to worry. If their illness is urgent, they can go to any hospital and receive free treatment for the first 72 hours, and then they will be transferred to the hospital that they registered with for treatment on their own scheme, or they can stay at the private hospital at their own expense,” he said.

 

Under the Thai government health insurance, each Thai resident has to register with one specific hospital that's part of the Thai government insurance scheme, meaning all government hospitals and a few participating private ones. Normally, that's the hospital they're required to use first, and only from there can potentially be referred elsewhere as needed.

 

So, the reason it's clear from this article that the free emergency care plan they're talking about would NOT apply to foreign tourists or to farangs who aren't part of Thai Social Security is, those groups aren't registered with any Thai government hospital, because they're not part of the Thai health insurance system. So pretty obviously, the article and the coverage it described isn't being applied to those other groups.

 

 

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

7 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I''m half tempted to think this is The Nation's version of TVF's April Fool's Day celebration.  But in this case, I THINK it's a legitimate news report.

 

I'm presuming from the report above, though, that this won't apply to a lot of farangs. Since we are not, as a general rule, except perhaps for those covered by Thai Social Security, covered by the Thai government's medical coverage system. Nor do most of us have a Thai government hospital where we're registered under the Thai government scheme.

Its real the NLA have been looking at it for a while and to tell you the truth the previous government had it in place but with the coup some hospitals started to charge for emergencies in the 1st 72 hours. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

Its real the NLA have been looking at it for a while and to tell you the truth the previous government had it in place but with the coup some hospitals started to charge for emergencies in the 1st 72 hours. 

 

That sounds right and familiar. IIRC, there was some controversy in the past because some Thais who had been seriously injured were being turned away from private hospitals that were nearby (because they couldn't pay cold hard cash) and were being forced to travel some longer distances to the closest government insurance-participating hospital, potentially risking their lives because of the time delays.

 

I think, that was the motivating factor behind the change in coverage requirements that's being described in the OP article.

 

The policy change had nothing to do with tourists or farangs, in particular.  Though there was a separate discussion about somehow mandating health insurance for farangs in Thailand or offering farang the opportunity to pay into Thai government health insurance. But both of those ideas/initiatives seem to have died with the latest coup and its new set of priorities.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

28 minutes ago, starky said:

Of course it doesnt cover foreigners but ya telling me some broke Thai can rock into the best Thai private hospital emergency room and get treatment for 72 hours..lets just say im dubious at best

 

As I said above, it's going to be REAL interesting to see how this plays out, especially in places like Bangkok where there are a lot of poor Thais and also a lot of pricey private hospitals that do NOT cater to poor Thais. What's going to happen when the first group starts knocking on the doors of the second group?

 

IME, the Thai government is great at issuing policies and directives, and NOT so great at actually following thru to ensure they really are put into place and enforced.

 

For example, on a different note, anyone heard anything lately about what's become of the supposed 10-year visas plan??? Big announcement, and then???

[fittobethaied]

"Air Vice Marshal Chalermporn Boonsiri, head of Thai College of Emergency Physicians, said that information will be placed in front of the emergency section of each hospital to clarify the definition of an emergency illness".

 

Therein is the "get out of jail free card" for the private hospitals. I just checked with one of the local private hospitals here in Udon, and they define an emergency illness as any "life or death emergency". According to my very reliable source, they have always had this policy, so this is nothing new! 

[sambum]

"it was important that everyone should take good care of their health so they will not become an emergency patient."

 

Huh? Must be a problem in translation on that point.

 

 

[The Deerhunter]

There was a post in these for pages a few months ago by the director of a Phuket hospital (if I remember right) saying any foreigner can get treatment at any government hospital (particularly his) for any emergency and in many cases will not even be charged.

[Negita43]

Not quite on topic but sometime ago I seem to recall talk of a government insurance scheme for long stay Farangs. Did anything come of that or was I dreaming?