Reports from Mahidol University Add New Data to Findings in Health Insurance (Copayment and recommended strategies to mitigate its impacts on access…

Reports from Mahidol University Add New Data to Findings in Health Insurance (Copayment and recommended strategies to mitigate its impacts on access to emergency medical services under universal health coverage: a case study from Thailand)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Data detailed on Health Insurance have been presented. According to news reporting originating from Bangkok, Thailand, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "Although bodies of evidence on copayment effects on access to care and quality of care in general have not been conclusive, allowing copayment in the case of emergency medical conditions might pose a high risk of delayed treatment leading to avoidable disability or death. Using mixed methods approach to draw evidence from multiple sources (over 40,000 records of administrative dataset of Thai emergency medical services, in-depth interviews, telephone survey of users and documentary review), we are were able to shed light on the existence of copayment and its related factors in the Thai healthcare system despite the presence of universal health coverage since 2001."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Mahidol University, "The copayment poses a barrier of access to emergency care delivered by private hospitals despite the policy proclaiming free access and payment. The copayment differentially affects beneficiaries of the major 3 public-health insurance schemes hence inducing inequity of access. We have identified 6 drivers of the copayment i.e., 1) perceived under payment, 2) unclear operational definitions of emergency conditions or 3) lack of criteria to justify inter-hospital transfer after the first 72 h of admission, 4) limited understanding by the service users of the policy-directed benefits, 5) weak regulatory mechanism as indicated by lack of information systems to trace private provider's practices, and 6) ineffective arrangements for inter-hospital transfer. With demand-side perspectives, we addressed the reasons for bypassing gatekeepers or assigned local hospitals. These are the perception of inferior quality of care and age-related tendency to use emergency department, which indicate a deficit in the current healthcare systems under universal health coverage."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Finally, we have discussed strategies to address these potential drivers of copayment and needs for further studies."

For more information on this research see: Copayment and recommended strategies to mitigate its impacts on access to emergency medical services under universal health coverage: a case study from Thailand. BMC Health Services Research, 2016;16():104-121. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Biomed Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting R. Tansirisithikul, Mahidol University, Fac Med, Ramathibodi Hosp, Dept. of Community Med, Bangkok, Thailand. Additional authors for this research include W. Aekplakorn, S. Srithamrongsawat, C. Srithongchai, O. Prasitsiriphon and R. Tansirisithikul.

Keywords for this news article include: Bangkok, Thailand, Asia, Health Insurance, Quality of Care, Hospital, Mahidol University.

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