A total of 63 million Vietnamese people, or 69.7% of the total population, have been covered by health insurance so far in 2015, up 2.3 million from the same period last year, Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) General Director Nguyen Thi Minh told the media on May 27.

However, the figure is still less than it was at the end of 2014, Minh conceded, pointing to several reasons, including changes in poverty alleviation policies.

Vietnam is hoping to lift the rate of people covered by health insurance to 75% in 2015. To that end, the VSI has requested local authorities at all levels to create the most favourable conditions for locals to sign up for insurance.

It will work more closely with the Health Ministry to speed up publicity campaigns that raise public awareness of the benefits of health insurance, while focusing on encouraging enterprises to buy insurance packages for their employees.

Minh continued by expressing her hope that the Ministry of Education and Training will take measures to expanding preferential loans for students in need of coverage.

Most importantly, the VSI will work to simplify administrative procedures, she added.

VNA