Vietnam's goal of universalising health insurance is facing difficulties due to uncomprehensive policy.
Lack of health insurance added burden for the poor
At a conference aimed at reviewing and adjusting laws on social insurance, the Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, vowed to improve the quality of health care at hospitals.
The Health Insurance Department, under the Ministry of Health, said that only a minority of people opt to buy private health insurance policies, and those who suffer from chronic diseases or are in need of expensive treatments.
They added that, although the country's policies are lacking, indifference to health insurance and bad medical facilities add to the problem.
It has been estimated that as much as 35% of the population has yet to buy health insurance, while 50% of whom are not covered by any employment-based insurance.
Most of the uninsured work for private firms that have avoided the extra financial burden of purchasing health care policies for their staff, who, out of fear for their jobs or being unaware of their labour rights, often will not bring up the issue to management.
According to current law on social health insurance, the Government contributes 30% to middle-class households whose income comes from work in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and salt production.
Still, up until now, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has not set standard criteria or carried out any comprehensive survey for health insurance.
For those households living near the poverty level, the Government provides 50% towards health insurance and the World Bank provides 30%. However recent reports from many localities, especially in the Mekong Delta, have failed to conduct reliable surveys.
The Ministry of Health has pledged to adjust the laws on social health insurance that could help solve the situation, addressing issues such as streamlining of the administrative process and patient overload at hospitals.
