7 notable new points in the draft revised Law on Health Insurance

On the morning of October 24, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan submitted to the National Assembly a draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance (HI). In this amendment, the Government submitted to the National Assembly amendments and supplements to urgent issues focusing on 4 policies. Notable points in the draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance are as follows:

	Currently	Draft Law on amendments and supplements	Content of amendments and supplements
Subjects participating in health insurance	Employees working under indefinite-term labor contracts or labor contracts with a term of 3 months or more	Labor contract with a term of 1 month or more	Shorten the time in the labor contract
Expanding patient benefits	Medical examination, treatment, rehabilitation, regular pregnancy check-ups, childbirth	- Medical examination and treatment, including medical examination and treatment and support for remote medical examination and treatment , - Expenses for the use of blood, blood products, drugs, medical equipment, medical gases, medical technical services, supplies, tools, instruments, and chemicals used in medical examination and treatment are within the scope of payment of the fund.	Supplementing "support for remote medical examination and treatment", supplementing costs for using blood, products... covered by health insurance
Adjusting medical examination and treatment costs in case people come by themselves	- According to the district and provincial connection mechanism. For the central line, if inpatient treatment is received, 40% of the benefit level is recorded on the health insurance card, and outpatient treatment is not paid.	Pay 100% of inpatient and outpatient costs according to the percentage of the benefit level for patients who go to basic or specialized facilities on their own in case of confirmed diagnosis and treatment of certain rare diseases, serious diseases, diseases requiring surgery or using high technology according to the list of diseases and techniques prescribed by the Minister of Health.	Eliminate referral procedures for some rare and serious diseases,... to be promoted directly to high professional level
Health insurance payment for people who self-examine and treat basic and specialized medical conditions that have been assigned to provincial levels before 2025	100% payment for inpatient treatment, no payment for outpatient treatment (usually called provincial line)	From January 1, 2025: payment as current provincial route (100% inpatient, 0% outpatient) From July 1, 2026: pay 100% of inpatient treatment costs and 50% of outpatient costs according to the benefit percentage.	Expanding benefits
Cases not covered by health insurance	Treatment of strabismus, myopia and refractive errors of the eye, except in children under 6 years old.	Treatment of strabismus and refractive errors of the eye, except in the case of people under 18 years of age.	People from 6 to under 18 years old who are treated for strabismus and refractive errors of the eyes are entitled to health insurance.
Use of health insurance fund	- 90% of health insurance premiums are for medical examination and treatment; - 10% of the amount paid is for the reserve fund, health insurance fund management costs, of which at least 5% of the amount paid is for the reserve fund.	- 91% of the amount paid is for medical examination and treatment - 9% of the amount contributed is for the reserve fund, fund management organization and operations expenses, of which at least 5% of the amount contributed is for the reserve fund.	Adjust the fund management cost ratio by 1% from 5% to 4% to increase direct spending on medical examination and treatment from 90% to 91% from the beginning of the year.
Handling violations	Must pay the full outstanding amount and pay interest equal to twice the interbank interest rate calculated on the amount and time of late payment.	Mandatory payment of late payment and evasion amount; payment of 0.03%/day calculated on the late payment and evasion amount of health insurance and the number of days of late payment and evasion of payment to the health insurance fund	Specify sanctions for late and evading health insurance payments
Advance payment, settlement of health insurance medical examination and treatment costs	The Health Insurance Organization shall make a one-time advance payment of 80% of the health insurance medical examination and treatment costs according to the facility's previous quarterly settlement report.	The Health Insurance Organization shall make a one-time advance payment of 90% of the health insurance medical examination and treatment costs according to the previous quarterly settlement report.	Increase the rate of advance payment for health insurance examination and treatment costs for medical examination and treatment facilities every quarter from 80% to 90%

By the end of 2023, Vietnam will have more than 93 million people participating in health insurance, with a coverage rate of 93.35%. The target set for 2030 is to increase this rate to over 95%. The revised Law on Health Insurance was submitted to the National Assembly at its 8th session. If approved, it will take effect from July 1, 2025; some provisions will take effect from January 1, 2025.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/7-new-points-of-interest-in-the-discussion-of-the-law-of-health-safety-insurance-law-ar903834.html