Medical workers give advice to a patient at the general hospital of Cho Moi district, Bac Kan province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Health insurance covered 81.7 percent of
Vietnam’s population in 2016, 2.7 percent higher than the target set by the
Prime Minister, according to the (VSS).
As of December 31, about 75.9 million people were
covered by , VSS Deputy General Director Nguyen Minh Thao said
at a meeting on administrative reforms and setting tasks for 2017 on January 3.
He said the insurance sector paid medical
expenses for 144 million times in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 10.8
percent. The estimated 69.41 trillion VND (3.05 billion USD) paid by insurance
exceeded the medical insurance fund by 5.13 trillion VND (225.7 million USD).
Many localities blamed the exceeding on the
scheduled increase of healthcare service fees and frauds made by both insurance
buyers and medical establishments.
Thao said last year, the VSS and its local
agencies stepped up streamlining administrative procedures and applying
information technology. While the number of administrative procedures has been
reduced to 32, it now takes businesses only 45 hours per year to work with the
social insurance bodies to process relevant procedures.
The sector is set to push forward with
administrative reforms and IT application in 2017 to develop a modern,
professional and effective system.
Social, health and unemployment insurance covered a total of 76.1 million
people last year, rising by 5.9 million from 2015. Up to 12.9 million people
participated in mandatory social insurance, and 203,000 others bought voluntary
one. Unemployment insurance covered 11.1 million people.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
