Proposal for health insurance to cover people's self-medication, what does the Minister of Health say?

After the 6th Session of the 15th National Assembly, voters of Cao Bang province requested the Ministry of Health to consider issuing regulations in cases where patients have to buy medicine and medical supplies outside the hospital (medicines and medical supplies in the insurance list as prescribed by a doctor) will be paid by the health insurance fund.

This is to ensure legitimate rights for people who have health insurance cards but are not provided with medical examination and treatment due to lack of medicine and medical supplies at medical examination and treatment facilities.

Voters propose health insurance to cover people's self-medication. (Photo: Nhu Loan)

Responding to this issue, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan emphasized that the lists of drugs and medical supplies covered by the health insurance fund are issued by the Ministry of Health and regulated in circulars.

Thus, the list of drugs and medical supplies covered by the current health insurance fund has relatively fully and comprehensively met the need for drugs and medical supplies, in accordance with the payment capacity of the health insurance fund.

However, to have available medicines and medical supplies for use at medical examination and treatment facilities, it is necessary to comply with regulations on procurement and selection of drug suppliers in accordance with legal regulations on bidding.

Currently, there are many problems in the implementation of procurement, specifically, the bidding for the purchase of drugs and medical supplies at medical examination and treatment facilities is still difficult, and in some places, the progress is not on schedule as planned.

In addition, due to the epidemic, the supply of drugs and medical supplies has also been affected and disrupted to some extent, many manufacturers do not have enough raw materials to produce and distribute drugs and medical supplies.

This also leads to increased prices of drugs and medical supplies and makes procurement and bidding more difficult.

The Minister of Health added that to overcome the above problem, in 2023, the Ministry issued Circular 6/2023 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 15/2019 regulating drug bidding at public health facilities; Circular 14/2023 regulating the order and procedures for developing bidding package prices for purchasing goods and providing services in the field of medical equipment at public health facilities.

The Ministry is also coordinating with relevant ministries and branches to synchronously deploy solutions, such as reviewing and perfecting legal documents, focusing on reviewing and perfecting legal documents on procurement and bidding for drugs and medical supplies.

In particular, urgently make adjustments to procurement regulations in accordance with the provisions of the new Bidding Law; amend and supplement the list, paying special attention to expanding the list of drugs and medical supplies to meet treatment needs and ensure the rights of health insurance participants; focus on accelerating the implementation of national centralized bidding and price negotiations, and urging medical examination and treatment facilities and related units to ensure the procurement and supply of drugs for patients.

The Ministry of Health is also researching to develop regulations on payment mechanisms for the costs of drugs and medical supplies covered by health insurance that people must buy outside to ensure the rights of health insurance participants.

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