According to Decision No. 1666/QD-BHXH of the General Director of Vietnam Social Security dated December 3, 2020, the new model health insurance card will begin to be applied from April 1, 2021, replacing Decision No. 1313/QD-BHXH dated December 2, 2014.

Printed embryos of health insurance cards according to the provisions of Decision No. 1313/QD-BHXH have not been used up until the effective date of this Decision, and are allowed to continue to be used and granted to participants of health insurance. While waiting for the replacement of the health insurance card under the provisions of this Decision, if the health insurance card issued to the participant of health insurance is still valid, he/she may continue use it for medical examination and treatment covered by health insurance.

Information about the participant's set of health insurance card numbers along with the participant's address (place of residence or workplace) and the time of exemption from co-payment within the scope of the health insurance benefits when going for medical examination and treatment at the primary level of health care are updated on the Data receiving portal of the Health Insurance Information System and the Vietnam Social Security Portal.

Overview image of the meeting

At the meeting, Deputy General Director Tran Dinh Lieu emphasized,  converting the old card model to the new one should not cause difficulties and troubles for the beneficiaries of the health insurance policy. People and health care facilities covered by health insurance must be fully and clearly informed about changes and benefits when they are issued with and used new model health insurance cards.

In the process of preparing for the implementation of the new model health insurance card, the Deputy General Director asked relevant units to review and adjust professional software on the basis of their functions and give guidance to provincial social security offices on using software to meet the requirements of printing, issuing and managing health insurance cards; to provide support on updating and showing data statistics on the use of card embryos; to notify the medical facilities under health insurance on the use of the new card template and make adjustments to the software connected to the Health Insurance Information System of Vietnam Social Security, etc. The preparation steps should be accelerated, however, must ensure accuracy and consistency.

Regarding the plastic injection of new model health insurance cards after printing, the provincial social security offices shall actively arrange human resources to deploy plastic injection or hire plastic injection to issue to participants in order to ensure the prescribed deadline.

Compared to the current model of health insurance card, the new one has many differences that brings benefits to participants and medical facilities. Specifically, the size of the new health insurance card will be more compact, making it convenient for people to store and preserve in their wallets, limiting the case of loss or damage. The paper weight of the card is thicker and is laminated with plastic, increasing the durability and stiffness of the card.

In particular, the new card number will be shorter with 10 characters of the participant's social insurance code, used to look up information about the health insurance card (replacing 15 characters of the current one). The back of the new card template has more detailed instructions on how to use the health insurance card, which helps participants know how to look up information about the health insurance card and their benefits and understand how to contact the social insurance agency for guidance and answers all difficulties related to the card and its usage.

For medical facilities covered by health insurance, this health insurance card will prevent barcode blurring, thereby helping medical facilities covered by health insurance to perform clear and accurate barcode reading and faster procedures.