Thai Cabinet revises 72-hour emergency care rules from September 15

Thailand’s Cabinet has approved revised emergency-treatment rules covering the first 72 hours of care, triage appeals and patient charges under the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) scheme. Deputy government spokesperson Ploythalay Laksameesaengchan announced the decision on Tuesday (September 15, 2026).

The revised UCEP rules, proposed by the Ministry of Public Health, take effect from the date of the Cabinet resolution. Healthcare facilities must provide immediate treatment to critical emergency patients in line with professional standards and their capabilities, without making treatment conditional on payment.

Healthcare facilities must promptly notify the patient’s statutory healthcare fund or the relevant agency, under the revised UCEP rules. Any agreement intended to release a facility from its UCEP treatment or notification duties, or waive the patient’s corresponding rights, is treated as having an unlawful purpose.

UCEP patients have 90 days to appeal triage assessments

Patients who disagree with their emergency classification may appeal to the National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) within 90 days of signing the form acknowledging the triage assessment, under the revised UCEP rules.

Under the revised UCEP rules, healthcare facility licence holders and operators must arrange for qualified professionals to assess the urgency of patients’ conditions and provide care in priority order. Facilities must consult NIEM if difficulties arise in determining an emergency classification.

NIEM must decide a UCEP appeal within 60 days of receiving it. Where necessary, the institute may extend that deadline by no more than 30 days beyond the original deadline, and its decision is final.

Healthcare facilities must refund fees collected from a patient within 30 days of receiving notification that a NIEM appeal has determined the patient met the criteria for a critical emergency.

UCEP sets transfer conditions and patient payment exceptions

Healthcare facilities must treat critical emergency patients until they are out of danger and continue treating the symptoms or causes of the crisis until 72 hours have elapsed from admission, under the revised UCEP rules. Transfers to another facility are permitted, where appropriate, only when:

• The original facility lacks sufficient capability to provide the necessary care.
• The patient is no longer in a critical condition and a receiving facility is available.
• The patient, or a person acting on the patient’s behalf, wishes to receive treatment elsewhere.

UCEP patients must bear their own treatment costs in two specified circumstances:

• The patient or their representative refuses a transfer after the patient is no longer in a critical condition and a receiving facility is available to continue care.
• The patient or their representative chooses treatment at another facility.

Patients covered by motor-vehicle accident protection, life insurance or non-life insurance legislation must use those entitlements first, according to the revised UCEP rules.

UCEP reimbursement follows one continuous 72-hour period

Healthcare facilities must submit claims for treatment provided during the first 72 hours after a critical emergency patient’s admission to the National Health Security Office (NHSO). Reimbursement follows the expense schedules and rates attached to the revised UCEP rules.

Under the revised UCEP rules, healthcare facilities must bill expenses incurred after 72 hours from admission to the patient’s relevant statutory healthcare fund, including coverage under national health security legislation, the responsible agency or the patient, as applicable. Charges follow the facility’s medical fees or agreed rates.

NHSO must verify claims, summarise expenses and notify the relevant healthcare fund or agency within 30 days of receiving complete documentation. The fund or agency must pay the facility at the scheduled rates within 15 days of NHSO’s notification.

A transfer between facilities before the initial 72-hour period ends does not restart the UCEP reimbursement clock. The receiving facility can claim eligible costs from the time it accepts the patient until the original period expires, counted from admission to the first facility and subject to the attached schedules and rates.

For UCEP patient transfers, a receiving facility responsible for the patient under an existing healthcare entitlement must use that scheme’s payment arrangements instead:

• A facility contracted with the Social Security Office that receives a patient registered under its social security coverage must follow that office’s system.
• An NHSO-contracted facility receiving a patient for whom it is responsible under the Universal Coverage Scheme must follow NHSO’s system.
• A state facility receiving a patient covered by the 2010 royal decree on medical welfare expenses, as amended, including civil service beneficiaries, must follow the Comptroller-General’s Department’s guidelines.

Existing Covid-19 admissions retain previous billing rules

Healthcare facilities treating Covid-19 patients admitted before the revised UCEP rules took effect must continue claiming expenses under the earlier Ministry of Public Health UCEP provisions for Covid-19, including amendments, until those patients are discharged in accordance with Department of Medical Services criteria.

Matters already being processed under the previous general UCEP rules or the Covid-19 UCEP framework are deemed to have been undertaken under the revised rules. Further action must follow the updated framework.

The public health minister may review the UCEP expense schedules and reimbursement rates when necessary, with approval from the Medical Facilities Committee and patients’ interests as the primary consideration. Any revisions must also be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.

Ploythalay said the revised UCEP rules would better align patient assistance and financial relief with the management of Thailand’s emergency medical system. The changes were intended to ensure timely treatment, improve patients’ chances of survival and reduce the financial burden of emergency care, she said.