Health Affairs

Health Affairs, 28, no. 3 (2009): w457-w466 (Published online 31 March 2009) doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.w457 © 2009 by Project HOPE	New Online   Getting Health Reform Done   After the State of the Union   Incremental Reform   E-Health in Developing World   Most-Read Articles in 2009

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Early Results From Thailand’s 30 Baht Health Reform: Something To Smile About

Kannika Damrongplasit and Glenn A. Melnick

Efforts by countries to attain universal coverage are often hampered by supply constraints that can reduce access to care for those already in the system and, in many Asian and developing countries, by the emergence of informal payment systems that extract under-the-table payments from patients. In 2001, Thailand extended government-financed coverage to all uninsured people with little or no cost sharing. We found that Thailand has added nearly fourteen million people to the system and achieved near-universal coverage without compromising access for those with prior coverage; we also found that, to date, no informal payment system has emerged.

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  [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [Annex 1]