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Jan 04, 2017 / 10:25

Rate of health insurance coverage 2,7% higher than PM's set target

In 2016, health insurance covered 81.7 percent of Vietnam’s population, up 2.7 percent compared to the target set by the Prime Minister, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Social Security Nguyen Minh Thao said at a meeting on setting tasks for 2017 in Hanoi on January 3.

Speaking at a meeting on administrative reforms and setting tasks for 2017 of the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) on January 3,  VSS Deputy General Director Nguyen Minh Thao said the expenses of social, health and unemployment insurance in 2016 valued at 235.7 trillion VND (up 16.6% compared to 2015).
According to Deputy General Director Nguyen Minh Thao, as of December 31, about 75.9 million people were covered by health insurance. Health insurance covered 81.7 percent of Vietnam’s population in 2016, 2.7 percent higher than the target set by the Prime Minister.
He said the insurance sector paid medical expenses for 144 million times in 2016, an increase of 10.8 percent against the same period.

 
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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).
Social, health and unemployment insurance covered a total of 76.1 million people in 2016, increasing by 5.9 million from 2015. Up to 12.9 million people joined mandatory social insurance, and 203,000 others bought voluntary one. Unemployment insurance covered 11.1 million people.
Many provinces and cities nationwide blamed the exceeding on the scheduled increase of healthcare service fees and frauds made by both insurance buyers and medical establishments. 
The official said in 2016, the VSS and its local agencies accelerated streamlining administrative procedures and applying information technology. The number of administrative procedures has been reduced to 32. Currently, it now takes businesses only 45 hours per year to work with the social insurance bodies to process relevant procedures.
The sector targets to speed up administrative reforms and IT application in 2017 to develop a modern, professional and effective social insurance system.