Difficult access to health insurance payment mechanism
According to the Ministry of Health, as of 2025, the rate of medical examination using traditional medicine (YHCT) at the provincial level accounts for 11.1%; district level (old) accounts for 16.3%; commune level accounts for 24.4%. The rate of inpatient treatment using traditional medicine, combining YHCT with modern medicine at the provincial level accounts for 9.8%; district level (old) accounts for 9% and the rate of outpatient treatment using YHCT, combining YHCT with modern medicine at the provincial level accounts for 13.7%; district level (old) accounts for 9.3%; commune level accounts for 25.6%.
The Ministry of Health said that the list of traditional medicines covered by the Health Insurance Fund has also been expanded with 229 types of traditional medicine and 349 traditional medicine ingredients, creating favorable conditions and ensuring maximum benefits for patients.
However, representatives of the Ministry of Health also admitted that there are still many challenges and inadequacies that are hindering the development of the industry, such as the large gap in service supply capacity between levels. Notably, the rate of health insurance medical examination and treatment using traditional medicine at the grassroots health level is trending downwards. The proportion of expenditure on traditional medicine only accounts for about 5.42% of the total cost of traditional medicine in 2025 - a figure that is still too modest compared to the actual potential.
Lack of grassroots human resources, limited capacity to modernize medicinal herbs and lack of clinical research in the direction of evidence-based medicine are also bottlenecks that need to be removed.
Sharing with Lao Dong reporters about this issue, Dr. BSCC Le Manh Cuong - Director of Tue Tinh Hospital (Vietnam Academy of Traditional Medicine and Pharmacy) said that the direction of General Secretary and President To Lam on the development of traditional medicine is very drastic and timely. However, many current policies still have discrepancies between the policy of developing traditional medicine and the actual implementation method. This makes many types of drugs and treatments effective but difficult to access the HI payment mechanism.
People will use it if covered by insurance
One of the biggest barriers currently, according to Dr. BSCC Le Manh Cuong, is that the HI payment mechanism for traditional medicine and services is still not really synchronized. He believes that many people still have to consider the cost factor when choosing treatment methods. "If people are covered by HI, I am sure that the rate of using traditional medicine will be very high" - Dr. Cuong said.
Recently published data shows that traditional medicine expenditures currently account for just over 5% of total health insurance expenditures, much lower than the development goals set out. Reality shows that many traditional medicines and many traditional remedies have not been exploited commensurately.
One of the issues causing much debate today is the standards for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of traditional medicine. According to Dr. BSCC Le Manh Cuong, if the research standards of modern medicine are fully applied to traditional medicine, it will be very difficult to fully promote the value of this medicine. However, he also does not deny the role of modern science.
According to Mr. Cuong, it is necessary to use modern medicine to "scientify", "prove" traditional remedies, instead of denying the accumulated experience through many generations. The evaluation of Traditional Medicine also needs a suitable system of criteria, avoiding imposing modern medicine standards mechanically.
Regarding concerns about the abuse of traditional medicine services in health insurance medical examination and treatment, Dr. BSCC Le Manh Cuong said that the issue needs to be viewed objectively. He admitted that there is abuse in some places, but the solution must be to strengthen inspection, examination and management, instead of creating more barriers for patients.
Patients who use traditional medicine should be reimbursed, regardless of whether they are hospitalized or not" - he stated his opinion.
According to him, TCM has now developed strongly at the grassroots level, many treatment methods do not necessarily require inpatient treatment but still bring efficiency.
Sharing about the development orientation at Tue Tinh Hospital, Dr. BSCC Le Manh Cuong said that the hospital is pursuing a model combining traditional medicine and modern medicine, in which technology is considered a supporting tool rather than a decisive factor. Currently, the hospital is promoting non-invasive treatment techniques, combining modern technology and traditional medicine methods.
Very favorable opportunity to develop Vietnamese traditional medicine
Talking to Lao Dong reporters, Ms. Tran Thi Trang - Director of the Department of Health Insurance (Ministry of Health) - said that the health sector is implementing many synchronous solutions, from perfecting health insurance policies, updating the list of traditional medicine (YHCT), developing domestic medicinal herbs to innovating procurement and bidding mechanisms to realize the directions of General Secretary and President To Lam.
Ms. Trang assessed that this is a particularly favorable period for the development of Traditional Medicine when this field receives strong attention and direction from the Central Government. “It can be said that this is a very favorable opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop traditional medicine. The health sector will certainly closely follow the directions to effectively implement it in the coming time,” Ms. Trang said.
