Attendants of the meeting on the side of the VSS include: Deputy General Director Pham Luong Son; leaders of related subordinate units. On the side of USABC, Michael Michalak - Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director, leaders and representatives of nearly 20 corporations and member enterprises also attended the meeting.

Deputy General Director of VSS Pham Luong Son delivered speeches at the meeting

At the meeting, on behalf of the VSS leaders, Deputy General Director Pham Luong Son sent greetings to the delegation of USABC. At the same time, he informed, implementing the plan in the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the VSS and the USABC, at the request of the US side, today the USABC delegation came to work with the VSS to discuss a number of issues regarding cooperation implementation and listen to members of the Council to update the project status and proposals in the field of health insurance.

Deputy General Director of VSS Pham Luong Son gave an overview of the implementation of the health insurance policy in Vietnam. Accordingly, after 30 years of implementation, by the end of 2021, in Vietnam, the number of health insurance participants will reach more than 88.8 million, covering more than 91% of the population. Each year, the health insurance fund pays hundreds of trillions of dong, contributing to the financial mechanism in the care and protection of people's health. Of which, drug expenditure accounted for about 36%, medical supplies expenditure accounted for about 10%. The need for access to new drugs, effective drugs in disease treatment, access to new medical equipment, and new medical technologies continues to increase, but the financial resources of the health insurance fund are limited, posing the need for tools and procedures for determining the payment scope for the list of drugs, medical equipment, technical services, and an effective procurement strategy for drugs, supplies and medical equipment. Spending and sustainable development of health insurance policies were ensured effective. Although initially new forms of procurement of drugs and medical devices in Vietnam have been brought into full play in recent years, the study and search for effective and sustainable procurement strategies are required and the importance in the effective use of health insurance funds are identified. In addition, the Law on Health Insurance, which is in the process of being revised, also requires finding sustainable financial solutions to meet the growing health care needs of the people.

“Therefore, the collaboration with the USABC in the area of health insurance is crucial. VSS hopes that the Council will share world best practices and cooperation models to support the development of health systems, health insurance policies, and policies on pharmaceutical management, including bidding, negotiating drug prices in a sustainable way in Vietnam with the best access to innovative medical products.” - Son shared.

Michael Michalak - Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director of the US-ASEAN Business Council also delivered speeches at the meeting.

On behalf of the delegation, Michael Michalak assessed, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between VSS and USABC in implementing the health insurance policy is a milestone and a favorable start for cooperation. The member businesses of the Council are always ready and eager to implement projects, tasks, and provide resources for Vietnam to improve its health insurance policy and health system.

“I believe that after the discussion, we will have a premise to implement better public-private partnerships in Vietnam's health insurance sector and realize the goals of the projects within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between the VSS and USABC,” said Michael Michalak.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed and exchanged the fields included in the Memorandum of Understanding, including: (1) Research and international experience sharing on sustainable development of universal health insurance; Improve and maintain the stability and sustainability of health insurance coverage and health insurance funds; (2) Research and sharing on international experiences on assessment of health insurance payments; (3) Develop methods, indicators, and models to assess the quality, costs and prices of medical examination and treatment services, drugs, equipment and medical supplies in payment of health insurance; (4) Evaluate the processes and methods related to health insurance payment for medical services, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment and medical supplies. (5) Sharing about the payment of brand-name drugs, the rate of using brand-name drugs at health facilities, and the use of brand-name drugs when there are substitutes for generic drugs. (6) Sharing experiences in bidding for drugs at health facilities, and in negotiating drug prices. (7) Exchange, share information and coordinate in the development of the legal framework and practice of pharmaceutical management, including drug procurement; (8) Share best practices on the unified management model of pharmaceuticals and products directly related to human health. (9) Support and coordinate in organizing conferences and seminars to share practical experiences and scientific information; supporting research and training of staff, visiting to learn experiences in a number of countries with managerial and technological qualifications in the field of pharmaceuticals.

Overview image of the meeting

In each field, representatives of corporations and businesses of USABC spoke and presented related projects, methods and proposals. Pham Luong Son highly appreciated these projects and proposals, as most of which meet the needs and expectations of VSS. Son directed the units including Department of International Cooperation, Department of Health Insurance Implementation, Center for Medical Claim Review, Information Technology Center to receive information and plan cooperation projects with related units to implement feasible projects. Leaders of the above units also exchanged and discussed with corporations and member businesses of USABC about projects and clarified many related issues.

At the end of the meeting, leaders of VSS and the USABC agreed on common goals and programs; assessed that the projects expected to be implemented are tremendous and complicated, so after the meeting, the two sides will send experts in each field to evaluate and discuss more deeply about the projects; at the same time organize series of seminars in each field of cooperation. From there, the two sides will come up with a specific action plan, turning the goals and tasks in the Memorandum of Understanding into reality, creating a breakthrough in the implementation of the health insurance policy in Vietnam./.