In a petition sent to the health sector after the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly, voters of Lam Dong province said that the cost of buying health insurance cards for students is still high, so some households have difficulty accessing them, while this group is still young and has a low rate of medical examination and treatment.
"It is recommended to consider adjusting the price of health insurance cards for students appropriately to create conditions for parents, especially for ethnic minorities in the locality who want to buy insurance for their children," Lam Dong voters proposed.
Voters in Dong Nai province recommend considering compulsory health insurance payment for students in a suitable group to reduce costs for disadvantaged families.
Ben Tre voters reflected that one of the most obvious shortcomings is that the level of health insurance contributions of students in schools is currently higher than the contribution for family members when participating together. Therefore, voters proposed allowing students to participate in health insurance by household to reduce some of the cost of purchasing health insurance.
Responding to these recommendations, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the current health insurance contribution rate is 4.5% of the basic salary. The Minister affirmed that with the scope of health insurance benefits enjoyed " relatively fully", the current contribution rate is assessed to be low compared to countries with similar socio-economic development conditions.
To encourage and support people to participate in health insurance, in Decree No. 146/2018 of the Government, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 75/2023 and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance (new), the contribution and support levels for health insurance contributions have been regulated for groups of people such as meritorious people, the poor, near-poor people, ethnic minorities, people living in areas with particularly difficult economic conditions, agricultural, forestry, fishery and saltwater households with an average living standard.
Regarding the proposal for students to participate in health insurance by household, the Minister of Health said that he has advised the Government to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and amendment of the Law on Health Insurance in the direction: Health insurance buyers at schools who are students (group 4) can switch to buying by family (group 5).
"However, to ensure management by group of subjects and stable implementation of health insurance policies for groups of students, this group will continue to pay in group 4" - said the Minister.
In addition, in Decree No. 75/2023, the Government stipulates that the provincial People's Committee can base on the capacity of the local budget and other legal funding sources to submit to the People's Council of the same level to decide on the level of health insurance payment support higher than the minimum support level for the subjects specified; at the same time, provide additional support to subjects not eligible for support and those who have difficulty participating in continuous health insurance.
