The present study on cost-benefit assessment of health card holders was conducted for the purpose of evaluating whether the benefit to be derived from the possession of the card sufficiently exceeds the cost of acquiring it by comparing the benefit and the cost on the basis of their present value for every age group. The study covers the health card holders in Amphoe San Pa Tong and MaeTaeng, Changwat Chaing Mai. A sample of one hundred card holders was randomly selected from each Amphoe in proportion of every age group. These households were located within the distance of  20 kilometers from the District Health Administrative Office. The data was collected by means of interviewing the head of households or member of the households who made decision about health care. Descriptive statistical technique such as frequency distribution and means were used. For the analytical part the study, the net present value (NPV), benefit/ cost ratio (B/C)  and internal rate of return (IRR) were used. It was found that in Amphoe San Pa Tong, the net benefit to the card holders in the 60 years old and over group was highest, (190.93 baht/ household) and the mean of the total net benefit was 31.87 baht/household. In Amphoe Mae Taeng, the largest net benefit accrued to the card holders in the  40-49 years old groups while the means of total net benefits was 41.09 baht/household.The study on cost and benefit to lifelong health card holders was evaluated under the assumption that they would hold the card from the age of 24 to 75 years. The net present value of the streams of cost and benefits over this period were estimated using five different discount rate, namely, 2,3,4,5 and 6%  per year. The results show that in Ampoe Maetaeng, the ner present value exceeded 0 and the benefit/cost ratio (B/C) was greater than 1 at every level of discount rate : indicating that the health card was worth investing. The internal rate of return was 6.51 baht per year which was low when compared with the present interest rate (8%/year). In Amphoe San Pa Tong, the card holders will gain a positive net benefit only 2% discount rate. The internal rate of return was 2.7 baht/year which was also very low when compared with present interest rate.Even though the results from the financial evaluation of cost and benefits of the card holding of both Amphoes showed the unfavorable results,  the decision of card purchasing actually depends not only on net financial benefit but also on other non monetary factors.

M.Econ มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่ ปี 2538

Health, Cost, BENEFIT, card, holder