On July 13, leaders of Khanh Hoa Department of Health said that the unit has completed receiving comments on the draft Resolution stipulating the level of health insurance (HI) contribution support for ethnic minorities in villages, residential groups, communes, and wards that are no longer in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions, especially difficult in the province.
According to the draft, ethnic minorities who are eligible for benefits will be supported 100% of health insurance contributions from the central and local budgets.
The subject groups to be applied include: ethnic minorities who do not belong to poor households, near-poor households living in communes in area I belonging to ethnic minority and mountainous areas; ethnic minorities living in communes no longer belonging to areas with difficult socio-economic conditions as prescribed in Decree No. 188/2025/ND-CP;
Ethnic minorities living in villages in ethnic minority and mountainous areas but not belonging to communes and wards in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; and groups of ethnic groups still facing many difficulties according to Decision No. 132/QD-BDTTG in 2026.
According to calculations by the Department of Health, in the last 3 months of 2026, the whole province has 79,585 people eligible for support. The total estimated cost is more than 25.14 billion VND, of which the local budget allocates about 23.564 billion VND, and the central budget supports 1.576 billion VND.
From 2027 onwards, the cost of implementing the policy is expected to be about 100.563 billion VND per year, including 94.258 billion VND from the local budget and 6.304 billion VND from the central budget.
According to the Khanh Hoa Department of Health, the issuance of a new resolution is necessary in the context that Khanh Hoa province after the merger must develop a unified policy throughout the area.
Previously, Khanh Hoa province (old) had implemented 100% health insurance contribution support for ethnic minorities according to Resolution No. 20/2024/NQ-HDND, while Ninh Thuan province (old) did not have a similar specific policy.
Currently, some ethnic minority groups are only supported 70% of the central budget for health insurance contributions according to Decree No. 75/2023/ND-CP and this policy will end in October 2026.
If the new resolution is not issued in time, the support policy is at risk of being interrupted, directly affecting the rights of people to medical examination and treatment.
After summarizing the comments for the draft, the Department of Health will complete it and send it to the Department of Justice for appraisal and reporting for the Provincial People's Committee to plan to submit to the Provincial People's Council for consideration and approval of the Resolution in the September 2026 session.
In 2025, Khanh Hoa supported 18,131 health insurance cards for ethnic minorities with a total budget of 13.637 billion VND. In the first 6 months of 2026 alone, the support budget was 15.246 billion VND, equivalent to 28,015 health insurance cards.
According to the Department of Health, the policy has been effective, helping ethnic minorities reduce the burden of medical examination and treatment costs, improve access to health services and contribute to stabilizing life.
