Health insurance participants need to proactively check the card validity to promptly renew it. Letting the health insurance card expire can disrupt medical examination and treatment benefits, even lose the right to enjoy health insurance benefits for 5 consecutive years.
According to Vietnam Social Security (BHXH), the valid health insurance card is the basis for the health insurance fund to pay for medical examination and treatment costs for participants. If the card expires, patients when going for medical examination and treatment will not be paid by the health insurance fund.
In case participants accidentally let their health insurance cards expire, if unfortunately they encounter health problems, they must pay for all medical examination and treatment costs themselves.
Vietnam Social Security recommends that people regularly check the validity of their health insurance cards and proactively renew them when they are about to expire. This helps avoid interrupting medical examination and treatment benefits as well as not wasting 5-year continuous health insurance participation time.
The procedure for renewing or changing health insurance cards is currently quite simple and can be done in many forms. Participants only need to check the card validity and prepare the necessary documents to ensure their rights when going for medical examination and treatment.
According to the provisions of the Health Insurance Law, people participating in health insurance for 5 consecutive years or more will be entitled to 100% of medical examination and treatment costs when the amount of co-payment in the year is greater than 6 months of basic salary, except for cases of self-medication not in accordance with the tuyến.
However, to be calculated for 5 consecutive years, participants need to maintain the health insurance contribution period without being interrupted for too long. The Health Insurance Law allows participants to interrupt health insurance contributions for a maximum of no more than 3 months but is still counted in the 5-year continuous participation period.
Conversely, if health insurance contributions are stopped for more than 3 months, the 5-year continuous calculation process will be interrupted. When participating again, the time to calculate benefits for 5 consecutive years will have to be recalculated from the beginning.
