The National Health Security Office (NHSO) will offer universal healthcare benefits, or the gold card scheme, to at least 480,000 ethnic people to whom the government will grant Thai citizenship.
Yuphadee Sirisinsuk, deputy NHSO secretary-general, said on Sunday the aim is to extend access to healthcare benefits to all Thais. This will not be limited to people with Thai ID cards, but also Thais who have been awaiting citizenship status verification.
She said the policy followed cabinet's decision last October to grant Thai citizenship to 483,626 people of 19 ethnic groups who migrated to Thailand before 1999, of whom 143,525 are their children born in the kingdom. "The policy does not include migrant workers," she said.
Last month, NHSO met various agencies to find a way to offer universal healthcare benefits to them but found the process to hand them ID cards took a long time. About 10,000 people are verified and receive Thai nationality every year on average. So, the meeting decided to issue a guideline to adjust the process for these people to get the universal healthcare benefits quicker. "We agree the 483,626 people will initially receive a certificate of residence at district offices first. This process will take about five days," she said.
After issuing the certificate, registrars will need to check the history of the applicants. They will later issue them ID cards "but if the authority finds a false statement was made, their Thai nationality will be revoked and that person will return to being a stateless person as before," she said.
Under the NHSO, those who have already received certification will be eligible to receive a gold card for the universal healthcare scheme free of charge. "This cooperation from agencies will create equality in health rights, which they can enjoy just like their fellow Thais," she said.