The Ministry of Health has just issued a document responding to voters' petitions after the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly. Many voters in localities expressed interest in health insurance policies and proposed expanding the scope of payment.
Voters in Binh Dinh province reflected that the increase in the basic salary leads to an increase in the health insurance contribution rate, but the scope of payment is still limited. People have to pay large costs for essential services such as MRI scans, tests, diagnostics and modern treatment, causing difficulties, especially for low-income families.
Voters requested the Ministry of Health and relevant agencies to expand the scope of health insurance payment for modern health services, helping people access quality services without having to worry about financial burdens, ensuring the rights of health insurance participants.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that on November 16, 2024, the Ministry of Health issued Circular 37 stipulating the principles and criteria for updating the list of health insurance drugs, guiding payment for pharmaceutical chemicals, biological products, radioactive drugs and markers within the scope of health insurance benefits.
Based on this regulation, the Ministry of Health is urgently reviewing and amending the list of drugs, adding new drugs with high treatment effectiveness and eliminating drugs that are no longer suitable. However, the expansion of the list of drugs, medical equipment and technical services needs to be carefully considered to ensure the payment capacity of the Health Insurance Fund.
On November 17, 2024, the Ministry continued to issue Circular 39 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 35/2016 on the list and payment rates for technical services covered by health insurance. This Circular takes effect from January 1, 2025 and has expanded payment for a number of technical services, especially in cancer diagnosis and treatment such as: 64-128 rows of CT scans, tests to detect tumors with radioactive immunotherapy or chemotherapy, emergency blood filtration, cooling down the commandant's body...
Continuing to expand the scope of health insurance payment will be based on the fund's ability to pay, the contribution level of participants and cost efficiency. The Ministry of Health will study and propose to competent authorities for consideration to ensure both the rights of the people and their suitability to actual conditions.
