Regarding this, Vietnam Social Security’s news portal reporter spoke to Deputy Director General of Vietnam Social Security (VSS), Nguyen Duc Hoa.

Reporter: The year 2022 posed lots of challenges to the expansion of health insurance coverage. With the number of participants reaching over 92 per cent, how do you see the achievement so far? What has the Vietnam’s social insurance sector done to ensure that the insured’s health is most taken care of?

Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa: Till now, over 91 million people, equal to 92 per cent of the population, have joined the health insurance system, which demonstrates the political determination and the renewal of leadership approach of the Party. Health insurance policies have come into life, easing the financial burden of millions of people when, unfortunately, they fall sick or contract diseases.

By actively contributing comments on legal normative documents on the implementation of health insurance policies, VSS has instructed provincial social insurance agencies to work closely with local sectors to carry out social insurance and health insurance policies in the respective locality; and organised conferences or had direct meetings with the leadership of the People’s Council, People’s Committee, departments and sectors in localities which have low coverage rate to work out solutions to expand the number of participants. Besides, VSS has also enhanced information dissemination; launched programmes or organised workshops to provide direct information to local people. Some forms of promotion were put forward, for instance, any household with 100 per cent of members are fully covered by health insurance during the fiscal year will be entitled to reduced premium contributions.

VSS Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa

Concurrently, VSS regularly inspected the social insurance agencies’ compliance with regulations; carried out specialised inspections on the contribution of social insurance and health insurance premiums as well as dealt with employers that evaded and delayed social insurance and health insurane contributions. The communication of insurance policies and laws has been continuously accelerated and diversified. The social insurance sector has also achieved positive outcomes in administrative reforms, information and technology application, and digitisation.

In 2022, the Vietnam social insurance sector launched the “Giving the needy people with social insurance books and health insurance cards” programme targeting ethnic groups who are not receiving State financial support for health insurance premiums; those who have just escaped poverty and do not have health insurance cards; those from nearly-poor households and low-income households that haven’t participated in the social insurance and health insurance system and other vulnerable groups.

We have made efforts to complete and exceed the targets set in the Politburo’s Resolution No 21 for the whole political system, especially VSS. Besides, we have ensured basic and legitimate rights and interests of the insured as stipulated in the Law on Health Insurance.

Reporter: VSS has proactively worked with the Ministry of Health to propose solutions to untie obstacles in health insurance payment and settlement, ensuring benefits of the insured when they use health insurance-covered medical care services. Could you elaborate on the solutions?

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Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa: Besides timely and sufficient payment of health insurance benefits for the insured, VSS has proactively and actively co-ordinated with the health sector to produce and adopt solutions to quickly remove shortcomings, ensuring funds for health insurance-covered medical care providers to supply medical services, maximising benefits of the insured as stipulated in the Law on Health Insurance.

Of note, based on proposals by the Ministry of Health and VSS, the Government promulgated Resolution No 144/NQ-CP on ensuring drugs and medical equipment and payment for medical care costs covered by health insurance. With such efforts, numerous obstacles related to the payment of health insurance-covered medical care costs under the VSS authority were timely removed.

Social insurance agencies also proactively worked with medical facilities to resolve existing problems, ensuring the payment of health insurance-covered medical care costs is in line with legal regulations. Till now, costs that failed to meet conditions for settlement before 2020 have basically been covered, removing lots of financial difficulties for medical facilities.

Furthermore, in  order to ensure sufficient funds for health insurance-covered medical care providers, VSS directed local social insurance agencies to make quarterly settlement report to advance funds for the following quarter. During the COVID-19 period, VSS also directed insurance agencies to advance funds for health insurance-covered medical care providers that fell short of financial sources.

In the coming time, VSS will closely work with the health ministry to amend and introduce legal normative documents related to shortcomings and inadequacies and to seek for optimal solutions to reach long-term goals, providing medical care for and ensuring benefits of the insured.

Reporter: Vietnam social insurance sector is among those which have effectively digitised and applied information technology. Could you please speak about specific results that digitisation and information technology have brought about for health insurance participants, health insurance-covered medical care providers, and even social insurance agencies?

Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa: VSS successfully connected with the National Population Database soon after it was put into operation. Till now, VSS has authenticated more than 60 million people whose information is included in the National Insurance Database with the National Population Database.

To pilot health insurance-based medical examination and treatment using chip-based ID cards, over the past time, VSS and relevant ministries and sectors have quickly carried out many tasks and solutions. By the end of November 2022, nearly 12,000 health insurance-covered medical care providers provide health examination and treatment using chip-based ID cards, equal to about 90 per cent of the total number of health insurance-based facilities nationwide.

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To accelerate the simplification of administrative procedures and information transparency, facilitate the insured to get access to health insurance-covered medical services, and concurrently help with the effective management of health insurance funds, VSS has proposed the government to work with the Ministry of Public Security to conduct biometrics in health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment services. At present, five health insurance-covered medical care providers in Hanoi and Quang Binh Province are piloting the use fingerprints, biometric authentication on chip-based ID cards to carry out procedures for health insurance-based medical examination and treatment for the insured.

Additionally, VSS continued perfecting and supplemented utilities in the digital social insurance – VssID app. There have been more than 29 million users of VssID; and over 1.8 million accounts have used health insurance images on the app for health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment.

It can be said that all administrative procedures of the Vietnam social insurance sector has been digitised, facilitating and saving time and money for individuals and organisations covered by health insurance. Digitisation also helps employers and employees to easily track the process of administrative procedures settlement and check collection data; and facilitates the issuance of health insurance cards and settlement of health insurance payment for the insured, improving information transparency. These benefits demonstrate that the social insurance sector’s digital transformation has been on the right track, producing practical outcomes, better serving the insured and contributing to improved social security.

Reporter: On the threshold of 2023, could you elaborate on solutions and determination of the social insurance sector in the implementation of health insurance policies in the coming time?

Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa: The responsibility of the social insurance agencies will increasingly be bigger in 2023 as the whole sector has to closely follow tasks and solutions to strive for the goals set for 2025. By then, the number of health insurance participants is expected to reach 95.15 per cent of the total population, towards universal health coverage as stipulated in the Resolution No 2020-NQ/TW; timely and sufficiently settling benefits of the insured.

Provincial and municipal social insurance agencies continue advising local Party Committee and People’s Committee to have drastic directions for the implementation of health insurance policies and laws in the locality with the aim to expand health insurance coverage, prevent the abuse of health insurance benefits, and ensure the sustainable balance of funds for health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment.

Concurrently, the social insurance sector will work with the local health sector to strengthen the management of the Medical Insurance Fund at medical establishments; and to pay due attention to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment at commune level to attract more health insurance card holders in order to lessen the burden on higher-level medical facilities.

The whole sector will further reinforce the application of information technology in health insurance, and strengthen the review on the Electronic Health Insurance Review Information System; applying the new health insurance review process including objective and subjective methods.

The whole sector also accelerates the dissemination of health insurance policies and laws; the position, role and importance of health insurance policies in the social security system to raise the awareness and responsibility of all sectors, departments, socio-political organisations, and the people in actively and proactively participating in health insurance system.

With the all-out efforts of the whole sector and the society, it is certain that we will fulfil the goal of universal health coverage, and the Health Insurance Fund will have a stable and sustainable development, ensuring the national social security targets.

Report: Thank you for your time!