The UCS was set up to improve equitable access to quality health services,
to reduce out-of-pocket payments by households, and to prevent
catastrophic health expenditures and medical impoverishment.
The evidence presented in this chapter (and in the full report on impacts
available at www.hsri.or.th) shows measurable progress in all three areas a short
time after the UCS was launched, with year-on-year improvements through
2011. The scheme also had positive spill-over effects on the health system and at
the macroeconomic level.
Increased utilization and low levels of unmet need demonstrate
improved access