Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Despite the number of people covered by health
insurance rising in Vietnam, the abuse of and the health
insurance is still a challenge for the country.
, director of the Department of Health Insurance under the Ministry
of Health (MoH), made the statement at a conference on December 12 in Hanoi to
review five years of the Social Health Insurance Law and make recommendations
for the revised law.
More than 83.5 million people across Vietnam were covered by health insurance
by the end of last year, representing 88.5 percent of the population, Kham
said.
The number of health
insurance holders has exceeded the goal set by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc
of reaching 80 percent of the population joining social insurance by the end of
2020.
However, he pointed out several common health service abuses, including the
prescription of unnecessary high-tech tests and health centres asking patients
to pay for medicine covered by .
Some facilities provide medical technical services to patients not in
accordance with professional procedures issued by the Ministry of Health or
practitioners did not have necessary certificates.
Some patients were hospitalised when it was not necessary or had their
treatment at the hospital prolonged, he said.
Addressing the conference, Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Minister of Health, said
health insurance was an important social policy of the Party and the State, a
financial mechanism in the healthcare sector for the sake of equity, efficiency
and protection of people’s health.
The quality of health check-ups and treatment with health insurance had
improved, he said.
People have access to modern technical service and new and effective types of
drugs which helped them overcome sickness and fatal disease.
The health insurance fund has become a basic financial source for the operation
of hospitals and health facilities, Son said, adding that the health insurance
policy had ensured risk sharing among health insurance participants.
He said that there were still shortcomings with the Social Health Insurance.
He cited unspecific guidance documents and inconsistencies between the law and
other legal documents related to health insurance. The low competence of health
facilities and their staff was also a problem.
Therefore, he said, it was essential to revise the law.
One of contents of the draft Health Insurance Law amended by the MoH was the
establishment of an independent health insurance assessment agency, separate
from the current Vietnam Social Security.
The ministry also suggested setting up a National Advisory Council whose
operation would be decided by the Government.
According to Kham, the organisation of an independent agency will help ensure
the transparency and objectiveness of the assessment while the National
Advisory Council will ensure the Social Health Insurance Law is carried out in
a consistent manner./.
Source: VietnamPlus