On the morning of November 15, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on explaining, accepting and revising the draft law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance.
The content that most delegates were interested in and discussed was collecting health insurance premiums in schools.
Giving his opinion during the discussion, Chairman of the Culture and Education Committee Nguyen Dac Vinh suggested considering the regulation of collecting health insurance premiums from students through schools.
"School is a place to learn, teachers should teach, paying health insurance, collecting health insurance is completely solved in another way" - Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh said.
Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh added that there should be a policy to increase propaganda so that people understand the meaning of health insurance, and pay health insurance "in the right place, at the right time", instead of collecting it at school.
Regarding this content, Head of the Delegation Affairs Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai commented that at the beginning of the school year, there are often many collections made through teachers or schools, including health insurance.
This regulation has certain limitations when the subjects participating in health insurance are students who often cannot decide for themselves the initial medical examination and treatment facility, leading to a lack of objectivity. Therefore, the Head of the Delegation Work Committee believes that not collecting fees in schools "is still the best".
Chairwoman of the Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh said that through examining the Government's reports on health insurance, the agency found that the number of students participating in health insurance is very stable, maintaining a high rate.
From there, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Anh suggested maintaining stability and continuing the current regulations. At the same time, it is possible to study increasing the level of support for students. Later, when the law is comprehensively revised, the agencies will have a thorough assessment to calculate appropriately.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Social Security - cited data from 1992 to present, the payment of health insurance through schools has been very stable, with 99% of students participating. If now switching to the household form and mobilizing people to participate, it is unclear what the rate will be.
Concluding this content, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh requested the examining agency to explain and clarify the content raised by the delegates.
Referring to the figure of 99% of students participating in health insurance mentioned by Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa, Vice President Nguyen Thi Thanh said that this is only in terms of revenue, "what is of concern is the quality of health care for school-age children".
The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested that there should be an assessment of what has been achieved and what has not been achieved in the implementation of health insurance for students in the past. Taking care of school health is not only done when students are sick, but also when they have not yet developed a disease and need to go for medical examination and treatment under health insurance.
