The Social Security Office (SSO) has threatened to delist contracted hospitals if they turn away Covid-19 patients.
SSO secretary-general Boonsong Thapchaiyuth said he has asked private hospitals to comply with all regulations and provide full treatment for patients who are social security fund members registered with those hospitals. Otherwise, the office will annul contracts with the hospitals next year.
Ladda Saelee, SSO deputy secretary-general, said the warning came after SSF members were denied treatment by private hospitals contracted by the SSO.
The warning follows two cases on March 26. One involved a Covid 19-infected woman who went to a private hospital where she is a registered SSF member.
She asked to be given favipiravir only to be told that the hospital had already dispensed the drug to its maximum 100 people per day. The hospital recommended the woman buy the drug herself at a cost of 15,000 baht.
In the other case, a woman who contracted Covid-19 was turned away from a private hospital and likewise advised to buy over-the-counter medicine.