At least 250,000 cancer patients benefited from the National Health Security Office’s (NHSO) gold card universal healthcare scheme in 2022, up from an annual average of 100,000 beneficiaries in the five years prior, the office has said.
Dr Lalitaya Kongkam, NHSO’s deputy secretary-general, stated on Monday that the NHSO has covered at least 12 billion baht in medical fees for cardholders — some 7% of the NHSO fund budget.
This amount may increase in response to increasing numbers of cancer patients, Dr Lalitaya said.
The gold card’s cancer coverage, which includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, came from the NHSO board’s policy called “Cancer Anywhere”, which aims to provide prompt treatment nationwide. The policy has led to investments in cancer therapy and equipment…
