Administrative Court rejects private hospitals’ plea to remove caps on pricing
Thailand’s private hospital sector has failed to win respite from an order controlling their medical prices, after the Supreme Administrative Court turned down their request.
The court made the decision saying that the order will not cause irreversible damages to the hospitals even though an injunction has not been issued yet.
The Private Hospital Association, together with 42 private hospitals, filed a petition with the court after the Central Committee on Product/Service Prices issued an order in January to cap prices of medicines, medical services and medical supplies at private medical facilities.
The court says the committee has not actually introduced any control measures, so there are no grounds to grant any respite.
The Central Committee on Product/Service Prices decided to put a control on medical prices after many consumers complained of excessively high medical fees. For instance, a patient was charged 30,000 baht for a simple stomach bug. Ongoing examinations show private hospitals sell medicines at big margins.
SOURCE: The Nation
