The Finance Ministry proposed letting private insurers manage the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS) in order to tackle the management problems of the scheme including its increasing expenses.

As a result, the affected civil servants, especially low-ranking and retired civil servants, fear that the move may increase their financial burden when seeking medical care.

A retired teacher from Wat Nangsao Temple School, Suwanna Rujivanarom, is concerned that if private insurance companies are allowed to run the scheme her benefits would be reduced.

She depends heavily on the CSMBS scheme to cover her healthcare expenses.

“I agree [with the move] if this change will be implemented to improve the management of the scheme and does not affect the existing welfare of the beneficiaries,” Suwanna said.

However, she said that if the change leads to lower healthcare benefits, it would affect many low-ranking civil servants, who receive little money and would be unable to afford expensive health services in private hospitals.

“The low-ranking civil servants who have already retired like me will feel the impact the most if private insurers cut down our benefits or apply an extra charge for healthcare services, because we are old and it is normal for seniors to have many illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes, and thus we need to seek medical assistance more than the other population groups,” she said.

She revealed that she received a pension of Bt20,000 per month, which barely covered her daily expenses.

She said that if she has to pay more for medical care, her pension may not be enough to cover the costs.

The retired teacher said that she has eye problems and has to visit a doctor every month for a check-up and treatment, at a cost of around Bt3,000 per visit. But she said that now she only had to pay for extra charges, as most medical expenses are covered by the scheme.

A retired teacher from Traimudom Suksa School, Wasunee Raksachan, said that she would not be too concerned if there was a shift in the CSMBS management.

“Right now I do not regularly use my benefits for the scheme because my daughter’s workplace offers health insurance benefit for her entire family members including me,” Wasunee said. “So if the CSMBS scheme is managed by private insurers and make the improvement to the scheme, I think it will not cause any problems.”

Earlier, There are also concerns raised by former public health minister Dr Mongkol na Songkhla that if the management of the CSMBS scheme is transferred to private insurance companies and existing welfare is further limited as a result, state-run hospitals would financially collapse. But the Finance Ministry stated that the change was needed to deal with the financial problems of the scheme by letting private insurers improve its management while ensuring all benefits remained the same.