BANGKOK, Feb 14 (TNA) – The government continues to offer free COVID-19 treatment although the disease will be excluded from its list of emergency illnesses.
Dr Jadet Thamathat-aree, secretary-general of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), said COVID-19 treatment remained free but patients would have to seek the treatment through their normal health welfare channels.
He acknowledged the report that COVID-19 would be excluded from the “Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients” but he said that it had not been removed from the universal coverage yet.
Even if the disease is withdrawn from the universal coverage, patients can seek free treatment via their health welfare schemes. The right covers holders of gold health cards who are treated at their registered hospitals. COVID-19 patients who did home isolation also received free services from NHSO, Dr Jadet said.
He advised COVID-19 patients to use their normal health welfare privileges, saying the patients who did not have any acute symptoms and went to private hospitals outside health welfare schemes would not receive free treatment supported by any health funds.
Patients with acute symptoms including high fever, breathing difficulty, low blood pressures, dizziness and semi-consciousness would receive free treatment paid by their health welfare funds at private hospitals outside their health welfare schemes, Dr Jaset said. (TNA)
