15 million workers participate in health insurance
Mr. Doan Quoc Dan - Department of Health Insurance, Ministry of Health - said that after 15 years of implementing the 2008 Health Insurance Law, up to now, 93.35% of the population has participated in health insurance. Of which, the number of employees participating in health insurance in the group paid by employers and employees is about 15 million people.
In 2023, health insurance revenue will be about 121,000 billion VND (of which the State contributes about 50%) and expenditure will be 124,000 billion VND and the remaining expenditure reserve (according to the law) for 2024 will be nearly 50,000 billion VND.
According to Mr. Dan, after 15 years of implementing the Law on Health Insurance, the benefits of health insurance examination and treatment are relatively comprehensive and increasingly expanded, and the quality of health examination and treatment is increasingly improved.
The specific objectives of this amendment and supplement to the Law on Health Insurance are to ensure that people can participate in health insurance according to appropriate groups of subjects and ensure health insurance benefits in accordance with people's needs in health care, professional requirements and the payment capacity of the health insurance fund; create fairness and convenience for the provision and use of health insurance examination and treatment services; improve the efficiency of grassroots health care activities, pay attention to primary health care, and contribute to comprehensive management of people's health...
Need a mechanism for workers to enjoy health insurance benefits
Commenting on the draft, many union officials reflected the current situation that some places still require employees to present their health insurance cards instead of using VssID (digital social insurance) or VneID applications; some businesses are slow to pay or evade paying health insurance, leading to employees having to pay health insurance to the business but not enjoying health insurance benefits when going to see a doctor or get medical treatment; the situation where hospitals cannot bid, leading to employees having paid health insurance but still having to buy medicine outside to treat their illnesses...
Mr. Tran Ngoc Van - Vice Chairman of the Trade Union of Industrial Zones in Binh Duong province - said that in Binh Duong, there are many cases where enterprises owe social insurance and health insurance. Therefore, employees want to switch to paying family health insurance but are refused because they are subject to compulsory health insurance paid by the employer, so employees do not have the opportunity to enjoy the health insurance policy.
“Legal regulations need to have policies so that businesses cannot delay or avoid paying health insurance because this is closely related to the rights of employees and there needs to be a mechanism for employees to enjoy health insurance and ensure social security,” said Mr. Van.
In further discussion with union officials, Mr. Doan Quoc Dan - Department of Health Insurance, Ministry of Health - said that currently, only a few provinces and cities are piloting the use of VssID or VneID applications to replace health insurance cards when going to see a doctor or get medical treatment, so it is correct that some places still require employees to present their health insurance cards when going to see a doctor or get medical treatment. However, from 2025, there will be other applications to replace health insurance cards and will be widely used throughout the country.
Because after the COVID-19 pandemic, many health workers were caught up in legal trouble related to the purchase of drugs and medical supplies, the drug bidding process was carried out very strictly. Some provinces even invited the government, police, and social insurance sector to participate in the drug bidding council but still could not buy drugs and many pharmaceutical enterprises did not participate in bidding for drugs and medical supplies.
Mr. Dan also said that he will accept the opinions of union officials so that this amendment and supplement to the Law on Health Insurance will better ensure the rights of people and workers when participating in health insurance.
