People expect new health insurance policies to reduce cost burdens
From July 1, 2026, health insurance (HI) participants when going for outpatient examination and treatment in the wrong place registered for initial medical examination and treatment at qualified medical facilities will be paid 50% of the benefit level according to regulations by the HI fund.
This is one of the notable new points of HI policy, helping people more conveniently access health services and reduce the burden of medical examination and treatment costs.
As a person who regularly has to go for health check-ups, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet (Hanoi) said she is very happy to know that from July 1, there will be a new policy related to outpatient medical examination and treatment using health insurance.
Previously, every time I went for an out-of-zone examination, I had to pay all the costs myself, so it was quite stressful. Now that there is a new policy to support people, we are very excited," Ms. Nguyet shared.
According to Ms. Nguyet, for many years, whenever she needed to be examined at a medical facility not in the originally registered place, she had to pay for all outpatient examination costs herself. For the elderly who regularly have health check-ups, tests or ultrasounds, this is a not small expense.
Sharing the same feeling, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang (Hong Ha ward, Hanoi) said that depending on each examination and the condition of the patient, the cost may be different. However, having to self-pay all outpatient examination costs is still a significant burden for many patients.
According to Ms. Trang, expanding health insurance benefits will help people proactively choose medical examination and treatment facilities that suit their medical examination and treatment needs. She also assessed that medical examination and treatment procedures at hospitals today have improved significantly, from registration to reception are carried out more quickly, helping patients reduce waiting times.
Hospital proactively prepares to welcome increased number of patients
Talking to Lao Dong reporters, Dr. Nguyen Van Thuong - Director of Thanh Nhan Hospital said that the hospital has proactively prepared many plans to be ready to implement the new HI policy from July 1.
Currently, Thanh Nhan Hospital receives about 1,500 outpatient visits and treats about 1,000 inpatients every day. Of which, outpatients who visit outside the initial registered medical examination and treatment place account for about 25%. When the new policy takes effect, the hospital expects this rate to increase to about 30-35%.
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Thuong, to meet the expected increased demand for medical examination and treatment, the hospital has synchronously prepared infrastructure, human resources and information technology systems.
Specifically, the hospital arranges additional preventive clinics to be ready to allocate when the number of patients increases; organizes training for medical staff, doctors and reception staff to fully update new regulations; and upgrade management software to ensure that the determination of health insurance benefits and payments are carried out accurately right from the time the policy takes effect.
The new policy is humane and contributes to enhancing the rights of patients. People can proactively choose medical examination and treatment facilities that are suitable for their medical condition and travel conditions without being completely dependent on referral letters," Dr. Nguyen Van Thuong emphasized.
According to the Director of Thanh Nhan Hospital, with the current capacity, the hospital can receive about 2,000 visits per day, so there is no need to worry too much about the risk of overload when the new policy is implemented.
He also recommended that people when going for examination should bring their citizen identification card, health insurance card or have integrated health insurance information on the VNeID application so that the process of receiving and confirming benefits is carried out quickly and conveniently.
