Thailand's insurance regulator, together with the Thai Life Insurance Association and the Thai Non-Life Insurance Association, will support government policies to alleviate the burden of people's medical expenses including high drug costs, according to the Office of the Insurance Commission.
The three organisations will support the "Healthy Body, Comfortable Pocket" project to reduce the financing burden on patients.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between four agencies, namely, the Department of Internal Trade, the Department of Health Service Support, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Association of Private Hospitals, to promote transparency, safety standards and access to medicines at affordable prices.
The "Happy Body, Comfortable Pocket" project is an initiative to help patients in private medical facilities. The patients can take their doctor's prescription to buy medicines from participating third-party pharmacies. The pharmacy must disclose the drug prices openly. This will help the public gain access to quality medicines at more affordable prices and is expected to significantly reduce the burden of healthcare costs. This is especially beneficial for patients with chronic diseases who need to take medication continuously.
This policy is especially important to the insured in the health insurance system because the medical inflation rate is still high, including hospitalisation and drug costs and medical expenses. The costs could exceed the sum insured under the policy and the insured has to bear the excess expenses themselves. Opening the door to the purchase of external medicines is another mechanism that helps the insured to manage the medical expense limit effectively.
Insurance companies must, however, validate medical prescriptions, the accuracy of receipts, and pharmacy standards under the supervision of the FDA to ensure transparent, effective, and fair protection to the public.
The OIC will monitor the results and evaluate these closely with the insurance sector.