Bt30 scheme back, payment voluntary
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The Bt30 healthcare scheme returns today for holders of the government's so-called "golden card", but the payment is voluntary and required only in cases in which medication is prescribed.
The Public Health Ministry has revived the Thaksin-era Bt30 plan after the Democrat-led government abandoned it in favour of free universal coverage. There had been debates over whether the fee should be collected at all, but the ministry and the National Health Security Office, which administers the scheme, finally decided that the payment would be voluntary.
There is one exception when the Bt30 payment is required – for treatments in which doctors prescribe medications.
The plan covers about 25.9 million holders of the NHSO’s gold health-security cards.
Twenty groups of people are exempt from paying the Bt30 fee, among them Buddhist monks and novices and other clergy, in addition to patients undergoing emergency treatments.
Boasting the motto “undergoing examination without medication, no payment of Bt30”, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said the voluntary payment policy would boost the confidence of patients while encouraging hospitals to maintain their good services or improve them.
