The Thailand Office of Insurance Commission (OIC), alongside the Thai Life Assurance Association and the Thai General Insurance Association, announced support for the government’s “Healthy body, easy on the wallet” programme aimed at reducing medicine costs and improving access to fairly priced drugs. The initiative enables patients treated in private hospitals to take a doctor’s prescription and buy medicines from participating external pharmacies, rather than purchasing only through the hospital. To operationalise the policy for health insurance, the OIC has discussed and set common criteria with life and non-life insurers to allow policyholders to submit receipts from participating pharmacies as supporting evidence for claims, within the medical expense limits under their health insurance policies, on the same basis as medicines bought in hospitals. Insurers are required to verify the consistency of prescriptions, the accuracy of receipts, and that the pharmacies meet standards and operate under oversight of Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration, with participating pharmacies expected to disclose medicine prices transparently and comply with safety requirements. The OIC will closely monitor and evaluate implementation with the insurance sector.
Thailand Office of Insurance Commission 2025-12-12
Thailand Office of Insurance Commission supports government medicine-cost programme and standardises health insurance claims for external pharmacy purchases
The Thailand Office of Insurance Commission, with the Thai Life Assurance and General Insurance Associations, supports reducing medicine costs by allowing patients to buy prescribed medicines from external pharmacies. Insurers will accept receipts from these pharmacies for claims if they meet regulatory standards. The OIC will monitor compliance and transparency.