Abstract
This study provides preliminary estimates on effects of the 30 Baht Scheme and the universal health coverage program on households cost savings and on poverty reduction. The estimates employ data mainly from two nationwide surveys-the socioeconomic survey (SES) and the health and welfare survey (HWS). In terms of poverty reduction the study compares over time the percentage of those who were impoverished because of health care expenses using data from SES. The figures are drawn from the households that had per-capita income more than that of the poverty line, but had after-health-care income (gross income after subtracting households health expenditure) that fell below the poverty line. We find that percentage of these impoverished group had been declining from 2.15% of total households in 1992 to 1.84% and 1.53% in 1994 and 1996, 1.1% and 1.3% in 1998 and 2000, and 0.7% in 2002. The early declines could be attributed to the expansion of Health Welfare Program for the Low Income Group to cover the elderly and children in 1994 and its subsequent financing reform toward per-capita budgeting that took place between 1998-2000. The recent decrease in 2002 is most likely results of the 30 baht scheme (plus a small effect of the coverage expansion of the Social Security in mid 2002). Based on these figures, the impoverished households that were caused by health care burden decreased by two-thirds as a result of the coverage expansion toward universal coverage. The above finding is similar in all regions but are more pronounced in the rural areas. We also measure number of households that become impoverished because some member were hospitalized. We find, however, that number of this types of households are rather small—ranging from 1/7 to one fourths of those were impoverished because of health expense. This finding suggests that a comprehensive universal coverage scheme that also covers major outpatient expense would still be crucial if poverty reduction is considered a main objective of the universal health coverage program in Thailand.
