Tran Dinh Lieu, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Social Security. Photo baodautu.vn

Can you tell us about students’ health insurance coverage in Vietnam?

By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, the health insurance coverage among Vietnamese students nationwide reached 95.2 per cent – an increase of 1 per cent against the previous school year.

According to statistics, the health insurance coverage among the Vietnamese students has increased year on year. In year 2016, there were some 15.9 million pupils and students, about 92.5 per cent, with health insurance. Now more than 17 million pupils and students - accounting for 96 per cent – are covered.

The health insurance fund has helped reduce the economic burden for many parents paying the health costs for their children in case of their serious illness.

Each year, the Vietnamese Health Insurance Fund pays VND1,000 billion or US$ 43 million for the students health insurance agencies to cover treatment.

By now almost 100 per cent of Vietnamese pupils and students are covered. What’s the driving force behind reaching such a high amount?

The driving force behind this big achievement was the strong co-operation between the Vietnam Social Insurance, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health and the strong support from the school teachers and other supporting staff.

However, the health insurance scheme for the Vietnamese students has faced a number of challenges. Under Vietnamese Law, joining the health insurance scheme is compulsory for all pupils and students nationwide but until now not everyone has joined.

Do you have any comments on the Vietnam Social Insurance Agency scheme to have 100 per cent of all Vietnamese students and pupils covered by the national health insurance scheme?

The health insurance sector has done all it can to protect the rights for all students and pupils nationwide when they need support from the health sector. Each student or pupil has had their own health insurance code – an important pass for them when they need support/assistance from any Vietnamese medical agent in the country.

The current COVID pandemic has seriously impacted the entire socio-economic activities nationwide. The Vietnam Social Insurance Agency will do all it can to protect the rights and benefits for all people – young and old alike when they need health treatment. We have considered the health insurance scheme for Vietnamese pupils and students as driving force for the increasing health insurance coverage in the country in the year 2020 and the years to come.

We have set a target to have 100 per cent of the pupils and students in the health insurance scheme in the 2020-2021 academic year. We have also adopted a special plan to mobilise financial resource to help poor pupils/students join the national health insurance scheme. Coupled with that we have already developed a plan to work together with Provincial Health Departments nationwide to offer good health care services to all people when they need it. VNS

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