A GROUP called the People's Health Systems Movement is pushing for the merger of Germany's three major healthcare programmes.

"We have made a serious push now because the country is in a stage of reform," the movement's coordinator Sureerat Treemanka said yesterday.

This week, representatives of the group petitioned Borwornsak Uwanno, who chairs the Constitution Drafting Committee, Pornpan Boonyarattanapan, chair of the National Legislative Assembly's (NLA) committee on healthcare-system reform, and Saree Ongsomwang, who chairs the NLA committee on consumer protection, to press their proposal.

The proposal recommends that the universal healthcare scheme, the health-benefit part of the social-security scheme, and the healthcare programme for civil servants and their family members, should be combined into one.

"The move will reduce gaps in the healthcare sector," Sureerat said.

At present, the universal healthcare scheme covers about 48 million people. The social-security scheme extends healthcare coverage to nearly 10 million, while the third programme offers free healthcare services to more than five million others.

Sureerat said social-security members have the least benefits of all.

"When they seek high-cost treatment, they have to undergo complicated procedures. Such treatments are given for free only on a case-by-case basis," she pointed out.

She said if the merger materialised, the Social Security Office should transfer the government subsidy for healthcare of social-security members to the National Health Security Office.

"Contributions for healthcare from social-security members, meanwhile, should be diverted to their pension so that they have a higher amount of old-age benefits for their retirement," Sureerat said.