Strong Political Commitment of the Party to Public Health Care

From an early stage, the Party has clearly identified health insurance (HI) not only as a main pillar of the social security system but also as a humane policy that embodies the progressive nature of the socialist system: no one is left behind in essential healthcare. The Party’s major resolutions and policy orientation on protecting, caring for, and improving public health have placed HI at the center, regarding it as an important instrument for achieving public health goals, promoting social equity, strengthening the social security system, and fostering sustainable national development.

These strategic orientations not only provide a solid theoretical foundation for improving the legal policy framework but also are guiding principles for the health industry and VSS system to fundamentally reform governance mechanisms, delivery models, expand HI coverage, and enhance the quality of HI examination and treatment.

In recent years, HI implementation has achieved many notable results, clearly demonstrating the soundness and effectiveness of the Party and State’s strategic orientation on HI policy and public health care. This is especially evident in landmark documents such as Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW (2012) of the Politburo on strengthening leadership on SI and HI during 2012–2020; Resolution No. 68/2013/QH13 (2013) of the 13th National Assembly (NA) on “Promoting the health insurance policies and laws implementation toward universal health insurance”; and Resolution No. 20-NQ/TW (2017) of the Party Central Committee convene 12^th plenum on strengthening the protection, care, and improvement of public health in the new situation. These major orientations have created an important political framework for ministries, industries, and localities to synchronously deploy new policies, expand coverage, enhance beneficiaries’ entitlements, and gradually improve the quality of HI examination and treatment.

Directives of General Secretary Tô Lâm Reaffirm the Party’s Strong Political Will

Accordingly, three major documents were issued: Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW (September 9, 2025) of the Politburo on breakthrough solutions for public health care; Directive No. 52-CT/TW (October 3, 2025) of the Secretariat on strengthening the implementation of universal HI in the new period; and Decree No. 188/2025/NĐ-CP guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance. Together, these documents form a unified framework of orientations, solutions, and implementation mechanisms.

These key documents of the Party, National Assembly, and Government have established a coherent policy architecture, creating a comprehensive legal corridor to realize the goal toward universal HI by 2030. The orientations are closely interconnected, forming a consistent policy system built on three central pillars: expanding coverage, improving service quality, and ensuring the sustainable balance of the HI fund. This constitutes a fundamental foundation for achieving universal HI, constructing a preventive, sustainable, and equitable health system that meets the country development  in the new era. Based on these documents, many specific tasks are clearly identified, including strengthening investment in local healthcare, fundamentally renewing health financing mechanisms, modernizing hospital governance, accelerating comprehensive digital transformation, and expanding HI benefits toward preventive care, chronic disease control, and continuous healthcare.

Notably, 2025 marks an important turning point with many breakthrough reforms that reflect the Party’s highest political commitment to public health care. In his directives on  caring for, and improving public health,  Lâm has repeatedly emphasized placing people at the center of all growth development policies, HI plays a key role in realizing every citizen’s right to health care. He affirmed that public health care is not only a social security but also a strategy on human resource quality, national power, and sustainable development. Accordingly, HI policy needs improving toward universal coverage, equitable access to health services, and minimizing financial burdens on individuals.

These directives confirm a strong political determination in public healthcare, create important orientation for detailing the major goals under Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW and Directive No. 52-CT/TW. The foundation helps Vietnam’s HI to develop  universal comprehensively and sustainably towards ensuring that all people can access essential health services without financial barrier.

Notable Achievements in Policy Implementation

Through many resolutions, the Party identified universal HI as a key objective of the socialist rule-of-law state and a concrete measure of the political commitment that “no one left behind”. HI implementation has achieved remarkable achievement over the years: coverage increased from 57%  in 2009 to 74.7% in 2015; by the end of 2025, the number is estimated at 97.422 million, with coverage reaching 95.16%. Vietnam  has thus achieved universal HI coverage ahead of schedule as set out at Resolution No. 20-NQ/TW.

The Party’s orientations have created strong dissemination, mobilizing decisive participation from Party committees and authorities at all levels and creating a “decisive boost” for achieving universal HI. Medical examination and treatment facilities keep being expanded, over 13,000 facilities under contract with HI. By the end of October 2025, HI fund had paid for more than 151 million medical examination and treatment visits, total expenditures exceeded VND 115 trillion, affirming role as a vital financial safety net for the people. The HI benefits list has been continuously expanded, covering over 10,000 technical services, over 1,000 active pharmaceutical ingredients, and hundreds of medical supplies, enabling people to access to advanced treatments.

Improving Service Quality as a Measure of Public Trust

The major objectives set out at Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW and Directive No. 52-CT/TW are aimed to increase the number of long-term HI participants toward  improving service quality and expanding benefits. Notably, Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW sets out breakthrough targets for restructuring the healthcare system. By 2027, all commune health stations are expected to have four to five doctors; 20% of HI covered medical examinations and treatments are to be provided at commune level; coverage will be expanded to preventive services, screening, and the management of chronic diseases; the health system will move towards basic hospital fee exemption within the scope of HI benefits.

These orientations mark a major, revolutionary  mindset shift from a treatment-oriented model to a comprehensive health management approach, from passive to proactive care. This helps to significantly reduce  medical costs and easing the long-term disease burden on society.

Through the Party’s Resolutions, the people-centred approach to healthcare has become increasingly evident. The Party  not only directs efforts to expand HI coverage, but has also underscores the need to improve the quality of medical services and ensure essential benefits for participants, seen as a decisive factor in strengthening public trust in HI policy. The Party’s consistent leadership has enabled the HI policy  to gradually move from nominal coverage to effective one, from “owning HI card” to “using the card’s practical value. These orientations carry profound humanity and lay the foundation for building a modern, sustainable, and equitable healthcare system. Breakthrough goals in local health workforce development, preventive care expenditure, and basic hospital fee exemptions reflect the high political determination of the Party and the State to safeguard the people’s health.

Improving the quality of medical examination and treatment: a measure of public trust

Whereas expanding health insurance (HI) coverage was once the primary focus, improving the quality of HI–covered examination and treatment services is now identified as the key measure of public trust and satisfaction, and as the essential task for retaining participants. The Party has required the HI needs comprehensively reforming to ensure participant enjoy better, more convenient, and more equitable healthcare services. Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW sets out structural orientations to improve the healthcare delivery model, publish medical service price, and strengthen hospital quality management. These fundamental solutions for reforming the healthcare financing model help to manage costs more effectively, reduce abuse and profiteer HI fund, and encourage healthcare facilities to practically improve service quality.

HI fund truly serves as a sustainable financial shield for all classes. From 2020 to the end of 2025, the fund covered approximately 41,188 cases with medical examination and treatment expenses from VND 500 million to over VND 2 billion, exceeding  VND 33 trillion. Beneficiary in Vĩnh Long Province received  more than VND 28 billion paid by the HI fund over five years for  treating critical illnesses. This demonstrates the policy’s profound humanitarian value and timeliness, as well as an importance of ensuring the long-term safety and balance of the fund. To ensure the sustainable development of HI, Deputy Director Nguyễn Đức Hòa affirmed that three pillars are essential: expanding coverage to secure stable collection, rationally controlling expenditures, and fundamentally reforming payment mechanisms. VSS is currently deploying a wide range of synchronous solutions, including electronic HI review, e-invoicing, e- medical records, and population data connectivity, to enhance transparency, reduce losses  towards modern, people-centred fund governance.

HI policy has  also been significantly reformed to reduce time and costs while increasing public satisfaction. Integrating HI cards into chip-based citizen identification cards, deploying paperless medical services,  expanding online payments, and  standardizing medical review procedure on digital platforms created breakthroughs in administrative reform. As a result, patients can access medical services with their chip-based ID cards or via VNeID app, while benefit  procedure payment are approved  more quickly and accurately,  data transparency is maximized  —contributing to the development of a digital Government.

The strategic orientations of the Party and the State on HI are not only directives but also firm commitments of responsibility to the people. They reaffirm the consistent viewpoint of the Party and the State that caring the people’s health is a top priority and a core factor in the comprehensive development of Vietnamese. On this foundation, VSS is gradually modernizing, expanding coverage, improving service quality, and ensuring the safety and sustainability of the HI fund, thereby contributing to building a socialist rule-of-law state for the people and for the country’s sustainable development, and towards the goal of a prosperous people, a strong nation, democracy, equity, and civilization.