Introduction
In 2001, prior to the achievement of universal health coverage
(UHC), 30% of the Thai population were uninsured despite a
gradual extension of coverage to various population groups
(Tangcharoensathien et al. 2009). In 2002, >98% of population
were covered by one of the three financial risk protection
schemes: Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS) for
public employees and dependants, Social Health Insurance
(SHI) for private employees and Universal Coverage Scheme
(UCS) for the remaining population who were not covered by
the former two Schemes. Though benefit package was quite
similar across the three schemes, the CSMBS pays outpatient
(OP) services based on fee for service resulting in a high level of
per capita expenditure, US$ 366 in 2011, 3.8 times higher than
the UCS expenditure, Table 1.