ITIC APAC 2024 | The Thai health system and the international payer community

The ITIJ team share their reports from ITIC APAC 2024 in Bangkok (16–18 June). Read all reports

Katy Youngman, Regional Manager Medical Provider Management at Allianz Partners, opened ITIC APAC 2024 with an overview of the Thai healthcare system.

She said there are currently 38,512 medical facilities in Thailand, of which 13,364 are public and 25,148 are private hospitals and clinics. Thailand introduced a national health insurance scheme in 2001 known as the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS). Youngman said that it provides free public healthcare through the Ministry of Public Health, and though expatriates working in Thailand are covered by the UCS, care is restricted to the specific hospitals and there are often long waiting times for treatment.

Regarding private care, she said that Thailand features excellent private hospitals, many of which are Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited. She said that private healthcare in Thailand is notably more expensive than public care and that pricing is not regulated, with some hospitals having a dual pricing system for domestic and international patients.

Youngman said there had been a post-pandemic resurgence in medical tourism, contributing to growth in patient volumes. Hospitals welcomed self-pay patients from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, as well as the Middle East, and China.

Giving the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) as an example, she said that 51% of the patients were self-pay, versus 36% insured. She added that an increasingly insured Thai population is also a contributing factor to growing patient volumes, and that BDMS data showed that 70% of the company’s revenue is now derived from Thai patients. Youngman pointed out that healthcare in Thailand was becoming increasingly challenging due an ageing population, foreign retirees, and elderly travellers with comorbidities.

Regarding healthcare pricing, she highlighted areas of focus for healthcare payers, noting that medical inflation was not always consistent across providers, and, in some cases, there could be large, unexpected increases. Youngman concluded her presentation by highlighting the need for collaboration with healthcare providers to build strong partnerships and transparency on pricing. 

Next, Dr Akrapon Kurusarttra, Assistant Director General of Thailand’s Department of Health Service Support, gave delegates an important insight into the Thai health system. He began with an overview of the Thai Ministry of Health and its departments, which include Disease Control, Mental Health, Medical Services, Medical Sciences, Health Service Support, Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, and the Food and Drug Administration.

He then went on to outline a number of Thai health policies and strategies, which include continuing to enhance the popular 30-baht healthcare scheme, which provides treatment anywhere in the country with the one ID card.

Initially, the universal healthcare initiative was trialled in four provinces, but it has since been extended into all regions, Dr Kurusarttra said. The personal ID card is seen as the key to unlocking healthcare services for citizens across the country.

He then outlined the structure of the hospitals under the Thai Public Health Service Network. He said that at the tertiary level there were 33 advanced-level hospitals and 86 standard-level hospitals. At the secondary level there are 780 hospitals, while the primary level includes 372 primary care units and 9,766 hospitals at subdistrict level. Furthermore, Dr Kurusarttra added that there were 119 small 30-bed private hospitals, 110 medium-sized with up to 90 beds, and 70 large with more than 90 beds. He finished by saying Thailand had 63 JCI-accredited hospitals, the highest number in Southeast Asia, and was ranked fifth in the world after the US, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil.