In their comments sent before the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly, Can Tho voters continued to reflect that health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment facilities still lack medicine and medical supplies, forcing people to buy outside and not being paid for health insurance. This is believed to affect the propaganda work to encourage people to participate in voluntary health insurance.
Responding to this issue, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan admitted that recently, the Ministry of Health has received feedback from a number of localities and people about the shortage of drugs and medical supplies at a number of facilities, affecting the rights of patients participating in health insurance.
"The main reason comes from difficulties in bidding and centralized procurement, especially in the process of converting regulations and implementing new guidelines under the Law on Bidding and Decree No. 24/2024 of the Government," said the Minister of Health.
In addition, delays in approval of lists, estimates, changes in technical instructions or temporary shortages of supply from manufacturers also affect the ability to continuously supply drugs and medical supplies.
"The Ministry of Health continues to coordinate with localities and relevant units to remove difficulties, speed up procurement progress, ensure the supply of medicines, equipment, and medical supplies for medical examination and treatment, especially medical examination and treatment covered by health insurance," the Minister affirmed.
The Minister of Health added that the Law on Health Insurance (effective from July 1) stipulates the transfer of drugs and medical equipment between medical examination and treatment facilities when drugs and medical equipment are not available and cannot be replaced.
"After the law comes into effect, along with other regulations and solutions, the situation of patients having to buy medicine and medical equipment themselves will be basically resolved, ensuring the rights of health insurance participants," the Minister of Health said.
In addition, to ensure health insurance benefits in cases where patients have to pay by themselves because medical facilities cannot provide medicines and medical equipment, the Ministry of Health has issued Circular No. 22/2024 regulating the direct payment of medicine and medical equipment costs for people with health insurance cards who go for medical examination and treatment.
This Circular clearly stipulates the conditions, scope and procedures for direct payment, creating a legal basis for patients to have their rights protected in force majeure situations, limiting the need for people to pay for costs outside the scope of health insurance without being reimbursed.
By the end of 2024, Vietnam will have 95.52 million people participating in health insurance, reaching a coverage rate of 94.2% of the population. Last year, the country had 186.2 million people receiving inpatient and outpatient health insurance treatment, with the proposed payment amount of nearly VND 143,000 billion (an increase of VND 18,685 billion compared to the same period in 2023). In fact, in the expenditure structure of the Health Insurance Fund, the proportion of expenditure on medicine still accounts for the highest, more than 31%.
Decree 188/2025 stipulates that from July 1, when patients buy drugs on the list of rare drugs as prescribed by the Minister of Health; medical equipment of type C or D (except for in vitro diagnostic medical equipment, personal medical equipment, medical equipment on the list of medical equipment issued by the Minister of Health which are bought and sold like normal goods according to regulations), they will be paid directly.
This means that not all health insurance patients are directly paid for drugs, medical equipment... when they buy them themselves. Not to mention, to be paid, at the time of prescribing, ordering drugs, and ordering medical equipment, all 6 conditions must be met.
VietnamnetSource: https://baohaiphongplus.vn/bo-truong-y-te-neu-2-ly-do-benh-vien-van-thieu-thuoc-nguoi-dan-phai-mua-ngoai-417573.html
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