Health insurance coverage expanded to 87.7 percent

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The Vietnam Social Security (VSS) reported that the number of participants in health insurance has increased to 83.6 million, or 87.7 percent of the population.

Meanwhile, compulsory social insurance has covered 14.5 million people, and 280,000 others have joined voluntary social insurance.

A total of 12.73 million workers are now protected by unemployment insurance.

In the first two months of 2019, the VSS paid a total of 39.25 trillion VND in health, social and unemployment insurance benefits.

In early March, HIV/AIDS patients began to receive antiretroviral (ARV) drugs covered by social health insurance (SHI).

Historically, ARVs were provided free-of-charge in Vietnam through international donors. However, over the last five years, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief programme has worked with the Government of Vietnam to transition the responsibility for financing the country’s HIV response from donors to SHI.

 Key in the transition was revising the Social Health Insurance Law and benefit package to include funding for HIV treatment; integrating HIV clinics in the public health system; increasing the number of HIV patients enrolled in SHI from 40 per cent in 2014 to 89 per cent in 2018; procuring ARVs through SHI; and creating procedures for HIV services reimbursement by SHI.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has also approve a plan which targets to have 11 percent of Vietnam’s population buy life insurance by 2020, and the rate will reach 15 percent by 2025.

The plan aims to develop a safe, sustainable and effective insurance market able to meet demand and ensure social security.