Overpriced medical care could bring down Thai health system

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Overpriced medical care could bring down Thai health system

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Critics call for standardised fees at private hospitals, notably for drugs
THOUSANDS of Thai patients are checking out of private hospitals with hefty bills - creating many doubters who blame the "medical tourism policy" which attracts a growing number of patients from higher-income nations.

The Medical Council, however, cautions critics to think twice before trying to disrupt Thailand's booming medical tourism sector.

Viroj Na Ranong, a public health economist with the Thailand Development Research Institute, said the major reason for soaring medical treatment prices at private hospitals was the medical hub policy.

And the government's move to control medicine prices and standardise private hospitals' medical care costs had yet to consider the effect of medical tourism.

"The arrival of medical tourists from abroad who are willing to pay high treatment costs allows private hospitals to make a profit from these rich customers by increasing treatment costs," Viroj explained.

Preeyanan Lorsermvattana, president of Thai Medical Error Network, said: "They [the hospitals] don't have to care if this expensive medical treatment will affect Thai patients because they still have rich foreign patients."

The medical hub policy should be reconsidered, she said, because private hospitals are focusing more on foreign customers who can be charged 50 per cent higher than Thai patients. As a result, the overall outlook for fees would be an increase for local patients in order to keep a balance.

Viroj suggested the government tackle the problem by implementing a medical tax on tourists to lower their purchasing power, forcing private hospitals to cut their treatment fees.

"The money from collecting this tax could also be spent on our medical system and invested in the training of new doctors," he said.

Medical Council secretary-general Dr Samphan Komrit had a different view.

"The medical hub policy is the only hope for Thailand to be among the world's best [for medical services]. [Medical tourism] is a very profitable business, which generates more than Bt1 billion in profit for the country annually. Would you just stop this policy because hospital costs were expensive?" Samphan said.

According to the Public Health Ministry and Kasikorn Research Centre, 2.5 million international patients received medical treatment in Thailand in 2012, generating up to Bt140 billion in income. Thailand claimed to be the world's first destination for medical tourism.

Full Story: The Nation
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