(Source: Viet Nam Social Security)

A competition on “We are health insurance educators” was launched among students from 15 universities and colleges in the northern province of Hai Duong on October 31, aiming at encouraging young people to join health insurance between 2016 and 2020.

The competition was organised by the province’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCM CYU) to provide students with knowledge on the country’s policies and regulations on health insurance and improve their capability to educate others on the scheme.

Some 15 teams of five students each from Hai Duong were challenged in three sections of the qualifying round, namely “We are educators”, “Knowledge of health insurance”, and “For the future health” before four of them were selected to compete in the finale.

The contest’s challenges focused on the HCM CYU’s role in health insurance education among the youth and how it can effectively organise related activities. The contestants were also encouraged to propose initiatives to get more people join the health insurance scheme. The Party and State of Vietnam always pay due attention to the people’s health care and have issued and instructed the implementation of numerous policies relating to the field.

The health insurance is designed to help people avoid financial catastrophes caused by unexpected and costly medical events by purchasing health insurance cards which cost very little. However, many students have yet to purchase the insurance mostly due to lack of awareness of its significance while universities and colleges have paid little attention to educating the students on the issue. As many as 20 students from difficult backgrounds were also presented with health insurance cards as part of the event.

According to the Vietnam Social Security (VSS), in this school year, the percentage of students joining medical insurance has reached 92.5 percent, equivalent to 15.9 million students nationwide, as compared to 90.5 percent and 15.6 million students last school year. A new regulation recently introduced allows each student who joins the health insurance scheme to receive a life-long code that could be used for recording insurance history and processing payment claims throughout their lives.  Under the regulation, the monthly fee for medical insurance for students is 4.5 percent of the State basic salary level, or 58,500 VND (2.5 USD), increasing from 3 percent last year.

Each student would pay 70 percent of the fee; the rest would be paid by the State. The cardholders, excluding poor students, can receive benefits of up to 80 percent of their medical treatment fees.

International Cooperation Department