Social security rates tipped to increase

The Social Security Office (SSO) will next Wednesday finalise a proposal to raise the payment rates of health care services paid to contracted hospitals under the social security system (SSS) to catch up with rising costs.

In response to calls from privately run hospitals contracted to provide healthcare services to people insured under the SSS, SSO secretary-general Suradej Waleeittikul said the final decision on the healthcare cost hike is expected on May 17.

Dr Suradej, however, dismissed a claim made by a group of representatives of privately run hospitals on Tuesday that the SSO had not increased the healthcare budget paid to them per patient over the past six years.

The SSO had actually continued to raise the payment for the basic medical service paid to the contracted hospitals for their services, he said, adding that a hike in the payment was implemented in 2014 and most recently last year.

On Tuesday, Dr Kampol Plussin, managing director of Chularat Hospital Group, led a move by the contracted privately run hospitals to submit to the SSO board a letter demanding a rise in the per capita budget.

According to Dr Kampol, the per capita budget paid under the SSS to the contracted hospitals was only increased once six years ago from 1,446 baht to 1,460 and has remained unchanged since.

The healthcare costs at these hospitals have risen to more than 50% and that resulted in certain hospitals deciding to quit the SSS, he said.

He added that more hospitals will likely follow suit if the SSO does not do anything about this problem.

Dr Suradej, however, said the SSO has been closely monitoring the costs of all contracted hospitals in providing care and treatment under the SSS and found that the medical service costs paid to them are basically sufficient.

Between 2015 and 2016, for instance, the SSO had increased the payment rates for 12 medical services to the contracted hospitals including the cost of a blood vessel operation that is required in preparing a patient for peritoneal dialysis that was raised from 10,000 baht to 20,000 baht per two years, he said.

Even the payment for a stem cell transplant using cells from related donors was at that time increased from 750,000 baht to 1.3 million baht, he said.

As for this year, he said, a sub-committee set up to consider a new hike in payment rates for all types of treatment ranging from those for a chronic disease to highcost treatment had already concluded on the hike for this year after working on the matter for three months.