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6 - Thailand

Universal Health Care under Government Stewardship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

M. Ramesh
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Azad S. Bali
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
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Summary

Thailand is widely acknowledged as a successful case of achieving universal heath care at modest costs. In this chapter we show that the success is based on a simple system under strong government stewardship: most health services are provided at publicly owned and operated hospitals, and paid for by the government through tax revenues. Layered to the combination of public ownership and funding, is a purchaser-provider split and frequent changes in policy settings based on data on utilisation and costs. The combination of these tools enable the government to monitor quality of services while maintaining a watchful eye on costs. The only tool that Thailand does not use extensively is regulation which, as we will see in this chapter, is not necessarily damaging due to the other tools in place. Public ownership and funding offers sufficient levers to the government to create incentives for healthcare providers to control costs, promote responsiveness, and improve quality of services without the need for extensive regulations.

Type
Chapter
Information
Health Policy in Asia
A Policy Design Approach
, pp. 130 - 148
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Thailand
  • M. Ramesh, National University of Singapore, Azad S. Bali, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Book: Health Policy in Asia
  • Online publication: 02 December 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108692656.006
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Thailand
  • M. Ramesh, National University of Singapore, Azad S. Bali, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Book: Health Policy in Asia
  • Online publication: 02 December 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108692656.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Thailand
  • M. Ramesh, National University of Singapore, Azad S. Bali, Australian National University, Canberra
  • Book: Health Policy in Asia
  • Online publication: 02 December 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108692656.006
Available formats
×