Govt to roll out 4.5 million health cards for state officers

The cabinet has approved the issuing of healthcare cards to 4.5 million civil servants to prevent corruption in disbursement of medical bills.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Kobsak Pootrakool, vice-minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, said the cabinet has agreed to allocate 124 million baht to the Comptroller General’s Department (CDG) to issue 4.5 million electronic healthcare cards for state officials and their families entitled to receive state medical welfare.

The cards will be ready for use on Oct 1, the start of the 2018 fiscal year.

State officials and their family members are required to present the cards to hospital staff to receive medical treatment.

Mr Kobsak said the new measure would close a loophole in medical bill disbursement.

It was found that some state officials’ families were selling the drugs they received for free from hospitals. There were also incidents where people sought reimbursement for medical bills that did not match with their diseases or medical treatments.

Mr Kobsak said the medical payments made for state officials and their families has been increasing four to five billion baht each year.

Last year, about 60 billion baht was earmarked for state medical welfare. However, civil servants’ medical bills far exceeded that budget, according to the CDG.

Part of the budget also will be used to improve the medical fee disbursement system.

In the future, the state will also examine whether reimbursements sought by state officials were genuine and legal.

Earlier, CDG director-general Suttirat Rattanachot said the electronic cards will be used to record information about medical treatments and payments at hospitals.

Krung Thai Bank was commissioned to oversee the production of the cards. The cards will cost about 9-10 baht each.