Sending opinions to the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly, voters of Dong Nai province stated that currently, the majority of people aged 70 and over often suffer from many chronic diseases, local medical facilities do not have enough facilities to treat them, so most people often go to higher-level medical facilities. However, according to the provisions of the Law on Health Insurance, in case a person with a health insurance card goes to a medical facility that is not in the right line, the Health Insurance Fund will pay a lower benefit than the right line.
Therefore, voters recommend a policy allowing people aged 70 and over to be allowed to use health insurance to see a doctor or receive treatment without needing a referral from a local medical facility, ensuring convenience for the people.
Responding to this opinion, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the regulation of medical examination and treatment at different levels (currently medical examination and treatment levels) aims to ensure examination and treatment according to the disease condition (regardless of age) in accordance with the technical level, helping to reduce overload at the upper level (technical level), when the disease condition is serious, it must be transferred to a higher level for appropriate treatment.
Voters' recommendations regarding people over 70 years old and suffering from chronic diseases have been considered and regulated in Circular No. 01/2025 of the Ministry of Health on guidelines for implementing health insurance, which stipulates that if people have a number of serious and chronic diseases, they can go straight to a higher level of technical expertise (basic, advanced) without needing to go through hospital transfer procedures and enjoy 100% of health insurance benefits.
Specifically, the Ministry of Health has stipulated 62 diseases and groups of diseases that are examined and treated at specialized facilities; 167 diseases and groups of diseases that are examined and treated at basic facilities; 141 diseases and groups of diseases that are transferred to medical examination and treatment facilities within 1 year from the date of signing the transfer form (instead of the referral form expiring at the end of the calendar year).
Proposal to reduce the age of receiving social pension benefits from 75 to 70 years old
Also related to elderly care, voters in Lang Son and Dong Nai provinces proposed considering regulations to lower the age for people receiving elderly benefits from 75 to 70 years old.
According to voters, the current regulation allowing people aged 75 and over to receive social benefits is not suitable for the reality of the elderly, especially in remote areas. Many people aged 70 and over have begun to decline in health, have no income, and are mainly dependent on their children and grandchildren. Therefore, voters recommend lowering the age of receiving benefits from 75 to 70 years old, and expanding the scope of application, not just limited to poor or near-poor households. This, according to voters, will ensure humanity and more timely support for the elderly.
Responding to voters’ opinions, the Minister of Health said that according to the Law on Social Insurance 2024 (effective from July 1, 2025), the elderly from 70 to under 75 years old belonging to poor or near-poor households have been included in the social pension benefits. This is considered a step forward compared to the current regulations, which only apply to people aged 75 and over.
However, the Ministry of Health believes that the proposal to extend the policy to all people aged 70 and over, regardless of economic status, needs to be carefully considered. This requires a comprehensive assessment of the socio-economic impact, the ability to balance the budget, as well as its compatibility with the existing system of policies to protect the elderly.
Expanding support needs to ensure the feasibility and sustainability of the social assistance system in the coming time.
The Minister of Health said he will continue to coordinate with relevant agencies to monitor, research and propose appropriate adjustments in the process of amending and supplementing regulations related to social insurance policies.
Article 21 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance stipulates the subjects and conditions for receiving social pension benefits, including: Vietnamese citizens are entitled to receive social pension benefits when meeting the following conditions: Firstly, they are 75 years old or older and do not receive a pension or monthly social insurance benefits, except in other cases as prescribed by the Government. Secondly, those from 70 years old to under 75 years old who are from poor households or near-poor households and do not receive a pension or monthly social insurance benefits are entitled to receive social pension benefits. Thus, the 2024 Law on Social Insurance has reduced the age of receiving benefits for the elderly to 75 years old instead of 80 years old as before.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/bo-truong-y-te-phan-hoi-de-xuat-thong-tuyen-bao-hiem-y-te-cho-nguoi-tu-70-tuoi-tro-len-post894857.html
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