Vietnam will not consider raising health insurance premiums until 2020, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has pledged. 

He made the statement during a meeting recently held in Hanoi on amendments to Government Decree 105/2014/ND-CP stipulating the enforcement of several articles of the Law on Health Insurance. 

To ensure the interests of health insurance participants, Hue asked the Health Ministry to collect feedback from ministries and units of finance and justice and the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) on amendments and supplements to the draft decree, which is slated for submission to the government this year. 

The Health Ministry was also ordered to work with the Finance Ministry and VSS to make a report on considering adjusting health service prices to submit to the government in the first quarter of 2018. 

Together with the VSS, the Health Ministry must raise public awareness of health insurance policies and the use of the health insurance fund.

The country has issued a resolution on public health which aims for 95 percent of the population to be covered by health insurance by 2025. 

By December 31, 2016, 81.7 percent of Vietnam’s population or about 75.9 million people had joined health insurance.-VNA