Under US’ National Library, Social Health Insurance (SHI) is a form of financing and managing health care based on risk pooling.

The implementation of the health insurance policy for the 2009-2024 period has gained many achievements, with the goal of universal health insurance likely to be reached. Recently, The Ministry of Health (MoH) has responded to voter concerns regarding the limited availability of cancer treatment drugs covered by health insurance in public hospitals, medications that were once included but are now excluded.

In Vietnam, MoH plans to continue reviewing and amending the circular that governs the list of drugs covered by the Health Insurance Fund.

This ongoing effort aims to broaden treatment options and ensure high-quality care for patients. 

Additionally, MoH is working with relevant agencies to establish regulations for the direct reimbursement of drug and medical device costs for insured patients. 

This initiative is designed to address potential drug shortages caused by external factors, ensuring that patients' treatment needs and insurance rights are protected.

In a related response to voters in Cần Thơ City, the ministry highlighted that the insurance coverage extends beyond modern pharmaceutical drugs to include traditional medicines and herbal remedies. 

A circular issued on March 17, 2015, outlines a list of 229 traditional medicines and herbal drugs, organised into 11 functional groups, and 349 traditional medicinal herbs, divided into 30 groups based on traditional medicine principles.

The current list of drugs covered by the Health Insurance Fund encompasses a wide range of treatments across various medical specialities, both in modern and traditional medicine, meeting patients' needs while aligning with the Fund’s payment capacity.

To further enhance medication availability and quality for insured patients, the ministry will periodically review and expand the list of covered drugs, with a particular focus on the needs of children, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged, while maintaining the financial balance of the Health Insurance Fund.

Maintaining the pace of health insurance growth amid people's difficult living conditions has once again affirmed the steadfastness and determination of the political system in general and the social insurance sector in particular in effectively implementing the universal health insurance roadmap.

With the consistent viewpoint of taking people and businesses as the subject and centre of service, the Việt Nam Social Security (VSS) always strives to ensure full, timely and legitimate benefits for participants. The number of health insurance card holders going for medical examination and treatment increases rapidly year after year.

From 2009 to 2023, the average number of medical examinations and treatments covered by health insurance per year was over 141 million, an increase of 59.5 per cent from 2009, with an average cost of VNĐ66. 2 trillion (US$2.6 billion) a year, up 330 per cent against that in 2009.

Notably, during the period when the whole country was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the pivotal role of the health insurance policy in the social security system was further promoted, contributing to health care and stabilisation of people's lives, and enhancing faith in the humane social security policy of the Party and State.

In addition, the VSS has focused on solutions to create utilities and benefits for participants, beneficiaries and State management agencies in preventing the profiteering of health insurance funds.
The sector has also sped up administrative procedure reform and expanded the application of information technology and digital transformation in professional work.

A research on health insurance effect on health  presents the Committee's review of studies that address the impact of health insurance on various health-related outcomes. It examines research on the relationship between health insurance (or lack of insurance), use of medical care and health outcomes for specific conditions and types of services, and with overall health status and mortality. There is a consistent, positive relationship between health insurance coverage and health-related outcomes across a body of studies that use a variety of data sources and different analytic approaches. The best evidence suggests that health insurance is associated with more appropriate use of health care services and better health outcomes for adults.