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Published on November 9, 2007

The decision by the Social Security Office (SSO) that the new contract will be indefinite and can only be terminated with SSO permission is unfair to the hospitals, Dr Phaibool Eksaengsri said.

The current two-year contract ends on December 31.

Phaibool said the problem of late payments and unpaid bills arose when employees who received treatment at the hospital with which their company had a contract later resigned from the company.

He said the hundreds of thousands of SSO beneficiaries receiving treatment at private hospitals under the current contract, out of a total of 8.9 million, would not be affected by their withdrawal from the deal with the SSO.

He said the hospitals would then forward employees' medical bills directly to employers for reimbursement.

SSO deputy secretary-general Sitthiphol Rattanakorn said the hospitals move was in an attempt to bargain for a higher subsidy rate from the government. The rate is now Bt1,537 per beneficiary per year.

"Their complaint about delays and non-payment is just a front, their real agenda is to get a higher subsidy rate," he said yesterday.

He said the SSO was fixing the procedural problems that led to the delay or non-payment of medical bills forwarded by private hospitals.

He said the open-ended contract with the hospitals was so that it would not have to be renewed every two years as before.

Sitthiphol said the SSO had discussed the matter with private hospitals three times without reaching an agreement. The SSO welcomes further talks but will approve what only what is appropriate and rational, he said.

The Nation