Labour Minister General Sirichai Distakul chaired the commencement and awarding ceremony to honour outstanding divisions and officers within the Social Security Office, on the occasion of the offices’ 27th anniversary this 3 September 2017; the event took place at the office’s multi-purpose building. The Labour Minister spoke about the Social Security Department’s focus on building solid foundations for the over 12 million insurers. Over the past 3 years, the Ministry of Labour has reformed provisions of social security such as increasing benefits, developing electronic communication channels for convenience and speed. In its 28th year, the Social Security Office will take on an important role as host for the 34th ASEAN Social Security Association Meeting in Udon Thani. The offices Secretariat was appointed as chairperson of the ASSA and has contributed to creating collaborative networks within the ASEAN region to show commitment in providing coverage to all worker groups, particularly informal workers.
The Social Security Office’s Secretariat Mr. Suradech Waleeittikul explained that the Social Security Office has improved insurer benefits, especially medical benefits. Over the past 2 years, 13 improvement have been made, resulting in a better quality of life for the people. Internal management has also improved with insurer interactions taking place on the SSO Connect smartphone application which allows users to check entitlements, contributions and change hospitals. He explained that in 2017, the 237 partner hospitals cooperated well, with 17 outstanding hospitals in particular exercising standardized systems and receiving no complaints throughout the year. Next year will see 3 private hospital leave the social security system but another 2 will be added, bringing the total to 236 which is still sufficient to ensure coverage to the 12 million people.
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Bureau of Public Relations/
Chaninthorn Phettab – News/
Sompob Silbut – Photos/
1 September 2017
