During the meeting, Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa emphasized that the common view of the VSS in providing feedback on the Draft Law on amendments to some articles of the Law on Health insurance (Amendments to the Law on Health Insurance) is to aim for a sustainable healthcare system and to address the current issues in implementing health insurance policies. The VSS is the unit responsible for implementing health insurance policies and directly implementing new content, as well as receiving feedback on the issues that the policy brings about. Therefore, it is necessary for the VSS to proactively participate in the development of the Law from the beginning, and contribute to ensuring that the health insurance policy documents are closest to reality.

Hoa also noted that the development of new policies always requires evaluations and impact forecasts for implementation. This is also an important recommendation of the VSS to the Law Drafting Committee. At the same time, Hoa requested the VSS’ operational units to proactively build impact evaluations on new points proposed by the draft amendments to the Law on Health Insurance, based on data and practical implementation of policies according to their functions and tasks.

VSS Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa chaired the meeting

Regarding the content of the draft amendment, Le Van Phuc, Director of the Department of Health Insurance Implementation, said that the department is continuing to gather feedback and contributions to amend the Law from the operational units of the VSS and local social security agencies. They are sharing the current issues in implementing health insurance policies and forecasting potential problems that may arise with the new points proposed by the draft amendment.

According to Phuc, the current draft amendment has many new points compared to the draft developed and consulted in 2020. Specifically, in late 2020, the Ministry of Health requested feedback and contributions from relevant agencies and departments to develop the draft amendment. In July 2021, the Ministry of Health submitted Document No. 983/Ttr-BYT to the Government, proposing to develop the draft amendments to the Law on Health Insurance, which mentions five main policies that need to be amended, along with the goals, contents, and solutions for implementation. The first policy is to expand the health insurance coverage to more groups that were not covered under the 2014 Law on Health Insurance.

The second policy is to broaden the scope of health insurance benefits. The third policy is to diversify healthcare service providers, enhance primary healthcare at the grassroots level, and improve the quality of healthcare management and administration. The fourth policy is to improve the efficiency of health insurance management and administration, and the responsibility of healthcare service providers and social security agencies in health insurance assessment. Finally, the fifth policy is to ensure the efficient allocation, utilization, and management of the health insurance fund.

Illustrative image (internet)

According to the proposal to develop the draft amendment to the Health Insurance Law, the Drafting Committee mentions three main policies that need to be amended. The first policy is to expand and ensure the sustainability of health insurance coverage and benefits. The second policy is to improve the efficiency of health insurance management and administration, and the responsibility of healthcare service providers and social security agencies. The third policy is to ensure policy consistency, feasibility, and coherence in the Law.

The adjusted content in the draft amendment to the Law on Health Insurance is also consistent with some new points in related laws. For example, the regulation on the technical expertise level in healthcare service provision according to the new system of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (effective from January 1, 2024) changes the four technical levels to three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced.