The cabinet has approved emergency Covid-19 care for patients with moderate or severe symptoms under the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (Ucep) Plus scheme from March 16.
Traisuree Taisaranakul, deputy government spokesperson, National Institute for Emergency Medicine criteria will be used to guide eligibility and patients can seek treatment at any medical facility for three days before transferring to their registered state or private hospitals.
At present, all costs associated with Covid-19 treatments are covered by the Ucep scheme, meaning patients from mild to severe can seek treatment at any hospital free of charge.
However, starting from March 16, those who have mild symptoms need to seek treatments according to their healthcare status.
"We want to reserve beds in hospitals for the yellow [moderate] and red [severe] groups of patients," she said.
Doctors and medical professionals classify moderate symptoms as being when patients begin to suffer from pneumonitis and have to be given oxygen through a nasal cannula while those in critical condition usually have to be admitted to ICUs or need intubation.
Currently, most patients who are infected with Covid-19 have mild symptoms and are not among specific at-risk groups such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions, and are being advised to self-isolate at home and take advantage of the services offered by community isolation schemes, such as remote consultations with doctors.
Public Health Ministry records show that since the outbreak of the Omicron variant, 88% of patients fall into the green [mild] group, while the yellow and red groups account for only 12% of patients.
"Patients who are in the green group will not have the Ucep Plus privilege but their treatment cost can be covered by other healthcare schemes including the National Health Security Office (NHSO)'s universal health coverage, the social security system or the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme," said Ms Traisuree.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul believe that the cabinet approval will also benefit both state-run and private hospitals as they can reimburse the cost of emergency treatment cases with NHSO faster.
According to NHSO, about 32.4 billion baht is pending disbursement.
Mr Anutin said that the situation is getting better in Thailand as the infection rate has fallen below the recovery rate and overall cases are falling.