The move has led to significant achievements, including a steady increase in health insurance coverage, edging closer to the goal of universal health insurance.

The benefits for health insurance participants are now being guaranteed more promptly, with on-going procedural reforms designed to enhance convenience and satisfaction for beneficiaries.

In 2008, there were 39.7 million health insurance participants nationwide, representing 46.1 per cent of the population.

By 2015, the figure had increased to 74.87 per cent, and by the end of last year, coverage reached 93.35 per cent, approximately 93.6 million participants.

Notably, from 2022 to the present, despite numerous challenges in expanding coverage due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health insurance coverage has continued to grow annually.

Most low-income groups, including the impoverished individuals, have gained access to health insurance, funded by the national budget, local budgets or other resources.

The healthcare infrastructure has been expanding, with significant improvements in service quality driven by governmental support.

Caption: Viet Nam Social Security Director General Nguyen The Manh visits patients after the typhoon Yagi hit Viet Nam.

The primary healthcare system, in particular, has been strengthened and refined.

Currently, there are nearly 13,000 health facilities providing health insurance services, including approximately 2,897 hospitals and nearly 10,000 commune health stations.

The system spans from the central level to local level, both public and private sectors, facilitating access for the public to health insurance services.

The number of individuals using health insurance cards for treatment has increased year on year.

From 2009 to 2023, over 2.12 billion health insurance visits were recorded nationwide, with more than 174 million visits in 2023 alone, nearly double the number from 2009, involving over 39 million cardholders.

The coverage for medical expenses and the list of reimbursable medications, medical supplies, and technical services has been progressively expanded to meet the healthcare needs of patients.

Expensive medications, including targeted therapies for cancer treatment, have been included in the reimbursement list.

Caption: The application of IT and digital transformation helps the examination and treatment, covered by the health insurance fund, be more convenient. Illustrative Photo

Additionally, costly medical supplies such as artificial hip joints and stents have seen the health insurance fund disburse thousands of billions of dong annually.

Moreover, regulations allowing for unrestricted access to health insurance services have greatly facilitated patient care.

Since 2016, health insurance participants have been able to receive treatment at any district hospital, and from 2021, inpatient care can be accessed at any provincial hospital nationwide, with benefits applicable as if treated at their designated hospitals.

Administrative reform

In addition to enhancing health insurance benefits, participants have also gained numerous advantages from administrative procedure reforms and digital transformation efforts, particularly through the Government's Project No 06 on developing and applying the population data and electronic identification and authentication to serve national digital transformation.

This is a key priority for the insurance sector, aimed at improving service delivery for health insurance patients while combating fraud and optimising the health insurance fund.

The number of procedures, documents, forms and the time required for processing has been significantly streamlined by the Viet Nam Social Security.

Electronic transactions have been promoted, allowing citizens and businesses to interact and transact online with the Viet Nam Social Security 24 hours per seven days.

The number of administrative procedures has been reduced from 114 in 2015 to just 25, with all procedures now available online at level 4, enabling swift and convenient transactions with the Viet Nam Social Security.

Under the project 06, the national database for insurance, led by the Viet Nam Social Security, has been integrated and connected with the national population database and several ministries.

Over 95 million pieces of demographic information in the Viet Nam Social Security’s database have been verified in the national population database, encompassing approximately 86.6 million individuals currently participating in and benefiting from social, health and unemployment insurance policies.

This serves as a crucial foundation for interconnectivity, sharing and effective management within the sector while facilitating administrative reforms.

All 12,851 health insurance facilities nationwide have implemented health insurance processing using citizen identification cards so far, streamlining procedures and enhancing service quality while effectively managing the health insurance fund and preventing fraud.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and the Viet Nam Social Security are closely collaborating to develop electronic health records for each citizen, ensuring quality and efficiency in supporting healthcare facilities' professional objectives and managing health insurance costs.

They are also working on interconnecting data for driver’s health check certificates to facilitate online services for issuing and renewing driving licences.

The positive results underscore the vital role of health insurance policies in social life and the well-being of citizens.

A coordinated approach must continue to be pursued to successfully realise the goal of universal health insurance.

This is not only the responsibility of the Viet Nam Social Security but also a shared commitment of the entire community, ensuring that health insurance truly becomes a golden card for safeguarding the health of every citizen./.VSS