Voluntary Bt30 collection to start
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Collection of the Bt30 per treatment fee under the National Health Security Office welfare scheme will begin on a voluntary basis on August 1, despite critics saying this might offend the beneficiaries.
The plan was initially founded in 2001 as a Bt30 universal healthcare scheme in which fees was exempted for children, the elderly, disabled people and those classified as poor under an Interior Ministry definition, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said yesterday.
The fee is also exempted for cases not requiring a prescription, but is preferred where medication is needed, he added. Collecting the Bt30 fee should generate up to Bt2 billion a year, which will be given to all NHSO-linked hospitals as reimbursement.
From August 1, beneficiaries can receive treatment at all times, not in certain hours as specified for gold-card holders, he said.
