ist, high cost care such as chemotherapy, radiation ther-
apy, prevention and health promotion services. Although
there was a minimum level of flat rate copayment of 30
Baht (US$ 1) per visit or per admission; this was termi-
nated in 2006. The out-of- pocket payments are for ser-
vices either not covered by the benefit package such as
private clinics or bypassing the registered providers with-
out referral procedures. The minimum level of out-of-
pocket payment are in favour of the poor; this is reflected
by the probability and level of payment for both OP and
IP services is consistently low among the poorer than the
richer quintiles.
Our additional analysis found the 88-96% of UCS
members actually used UC services; the poorest quintile
had higher rate of using their entitlements, 70-80% for
OP visit and 90-95% for admission, while the among the
richest counterparts, 40-
60% of them used OP entitle-
ment, 45-80% used IP entitlement [12].
Third, government financial commitment was signifi-
cant, not only the rhetoric in Parliament or at press
conferences. The 36.2% real term increase between 2003
and 2009 is significant. Evidence from National Health
Account shows the general government expenditure on