“Public Health Committee” urges “Anutin” to approve central budget for the National Health Security Office amid debts to public hospitals and cash flow crisis

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On October 30, 2025, at 2:00 PM, at the Parliament Building, the House Committee on Public Health, chaired by MP Ochit Kiatkongchuchai and MP Kalyapat Rachitroj, the first vice-chairperson, held a press briefing summarizing the committee’s meeting on NHSO budget management. Representatives from the NHSO and the Health Economics Division of the Ministry of Public Health were invited to join the discussion.

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The committee made the following recommendations to the NHSO and the Ministry of Public Health:

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The NHSO must reflect the true cost of medical treatment.

The NHSO must pay service providers on time to ensure sufficient cash flow for public hospitals.

The NHSO must allocate enough budget to match the actual number of patients, as the current patient load exceeds projections.

There must be clear monitoring of hospital financial deficits, and prompt corrective measures must be taken if hospitals begin to experience losses.

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The committee discussed the ongoing issue of NHSO’s delayed reimbursement to public hospitals, describing the current debt crisis as stemming from a per-patient payment rate lower than actual costs. This has caused major public hospitals, especially large ones that cannot refer patients elsewhere, to accumulate substantial financial losses.

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MP Kalyapat stated that Thailand has become an aging society, leading to more patients and increasingly complex treatments. These factors have driven up hospital expenses, forcing some hospitals to cut budgets for medical personnel, worsening staff shortages due to resignations.

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“The NHSO has lost significant credibility, which in turn affects the reputation of public hospitals. Many medical staff are leaving, and pharmaceutical companies have reduced hospitals’ credit limits. As a result, hospitals can only dispense medications for 7–10 days at a time, forcing patients to return frequently for refills and increasing their personal expenses,” MP Kalyapat said.

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She added that the erosion of public trust in the NHSO could drive people toward private health insurance, increasing treatment costs and discouraging regular use of public healthcare services.

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MP Kalyapat also called on the executive branch, including Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Public Health, to take immediate action, as they oversee the central budget, which has yet to be approved for allocation to the Ministry of Public Health to resolve the NHSO’s debt issue.

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She concluded by saying, “I urge the government to pay attention to the NHSO fund, which is on the verge of collapse. Thailand is an aging society, and our elderly deserve to live with dignity and good quality of life.”

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