PUBLISHED : 19 Dec 2024 at 04:57
Babies of Myanmar parentage born at a border hospital in Thailand are not entitled to receive free healthcare coverage like Thai nationals even though they are automatically issued with a 13-digit identification number, the National Health Security Office (NHSO) said on Wednesday.
More importantly, the ID cards clearly designate them as migrants born in Thailand, not Thai nationals, said Dr Jadej Thammatacharee, secretary-general of the NHSO.
He was responding to media reports about a rising number of pregnant women in Myanmar intentionally crossing the border to give birth in the Thai hospital to obtain healthcare benefits.
They take advantage of a health insurance package under the universal healthcare coverage scheme, which is designed specifically for migrants who do not have any healthcare coverage, according to a healthcare worker who earlier spoke anonymously to the Drama-addict Facebook page.
Around 160 babies with Myanmar mothers were delivered last month at the border hospital, compared to 80 from Thai women, said the worker.
Meanwhile, the NHSO has insisted it accesses the central database run by the Ministry of Interior to determine a baby’s nationality, he said.
Dr Jadej also clarified that the “Tho 99 Rights Fund”, earlier reported as having financed the welfare benefits for newborn babies of migrants at the taxpayers’ expense, was not intended to be disbursed for babies born to Myanmar parents who obtained medical services at the border hospital.
Approved under a 2010 cabinet resolution, Tho 99 Right was intended specifically for the 400,000 to 500,000 migrant workers in Thailand who, at the time, awaited nationality verification and were left without any healthcare coverage, said the doctor.
This healthcare right is only reserved for migrant workers and their children who are born here, not Myanmar nationals who exploited medical services here, he said.
“Foreign nationals not eligible for Tho 99 Right coverage will need to pay the medical expenses out of their own pockets,” Dr Jadej said.
The annual budget to pay for the healthcare costs of eligible migrants is 2 to 3 billion baht a year, he added.
Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, permanent secretary for public health, also dismissed a Drama-addict Facebook claim that the state runs up a huge bill treating ineligible patients at border hospitals.
He explained that some border hospitals, such as Mae Sot Hospital in Tak, were able to sustain their services financially as they attract paying Myanmar patients.
He was pointing out that not all border hospitals were operating at a loss.
Where facilities were in the red, it was because they had to provide free medical treatment on humanitarian grounds.
Dr Opas said babies born prematurely in Thailand are entitled to receive life-saving treatment under the Interior Ministry’s regulations, which justifies a budget allocation for such a purpose.
According to the healthcare worker cited by the Drama-addict Facebook post, with premature birth, babies — including those born to Myanmar parents ineligible to receive healthcare benefits — normally require care in a neonatal intensive care unit, which usually incurs a cost that runs into hundreds of thousands of baht per baby.
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