Under the scheme, participating hospitals provide treatment to people covered by the scheme free of charge.

NHSO secretary-general Dr Sa-nguan Nittayarumphong said the scheme covered nearly 48 million people but the budget bill provided subsidy for only 46 million people.

During the 2006 fiscal year, the government provided Bt1,659 per-capita subsidy to participating hospitals that were still allowed to collect a Bt30 fee from people per medical visit.

However, the incumbent administration recently cancelled the collection of Bt30 and so the NHSO proposed the higher subsidy. The Cabinet later approved Bt1,899 per-capita subsidy for the universal healthcare scheme.

"But when we look into the details in the budget bill for 2007, we find that the number of people in the scheme has reduced by nearly two million. It means we will get Bt3.8 billion less than what should be," Sa-nguan said.

He said the missing portion of money would cause trouble because hospitals would find it hard to provide medical services with a limited budget or at the rate of Bt1,819 per head.

"Hospitals have already started complaining. When they suffer, people who receive services from them will suffer, too," Sa-nguan said.

He warned the government that if it did not provide the budget based on the actual number of people covered in the scheme, people could bring the case to the Administrative Court.