COVID-19 patients will no longer be covered by the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) scheme from March 1st and will have to pay their own medical bills if they are admitted to private hospitals, according to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
He gave an assurance, however, that COVID-19 patients are still covered by existing health care schemes, such as social security, the gold card scheme, universal healthcare scheme or civil servants medical benefits.
He also said that the National Health Security Office (NHSO) will adjust the cost of an RT-PCR test to 900 baht for a two-gene test and 1,100 baht for the three-gene test, but no charge for swab tests.
Costs for antigen tests will be adjusted to 350 baht and 250 baht, depending on the type of test kit, which must be for professional use. The daily expenses for admission to “hospitels” will be 1,000 baht, the same as that charges for home isolation.
Normally, the UCEP covers sudden and severe chest pains, sudden loss of consciousness, severe breathing difficulty or rapid short breathing and partial paralysis of hands and legs and spasms.
