Resolving payment problems for medical examination and treatment costs performed on sponsored assets

Resolution No. 30/NQ-CP of the Government on continuing to implement solutions to ensure medicine and medical equipment has allowed medical facilities to use medical equipment that has been donated, given, contributed, aided, or sponsored by domestic and foreign individuals and organizations (including joint venture and association medical equipment whose contracts have expired) but have not yet completed procedures to establish public ownership for medical examination and treatment.

Technical services performed using this medical equipment are paid for by the Health Insurance Fund. The Resolution takes effect from March 4, 2023.

The issuance of Resolution 30 has resolved many difficulties and problems in medical equipment serving medical examination and treatment activities due to the failure to establish public ownership according to the provisions of Decree No. 29/2018/ND-CP stipulating the order and procedures for establishing public ownership of assets and handling assets for which public ownership has been established.

At the same time, it will resolve difficulties and problems in paying for medical examination and treatment costs under health insurance for donated medical equipment, but due to a number of objective and subjective reasons, it is not possible to establish public ownership, removing many difficulties and problems for medical examination and treatment facilities.

To limit these problems, Clause 4, Article 118 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP (detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment) continues to stipulate that assets, means and objects that are sponsored but have not completed the procedures to establish full ownership are used in medical examination and treatment and the costs of medical examination and treatment using these assets are collected from patients or paid by the Health Insurance Fund according to the provisions of the law on health insurance.

However, the Ministry of Health said that the costs of medical examination and treatment carried out on assets, vehicles and objects that were sponsored but had not completed the establishment of public ownership before March 4, 2023, have not been resolved.

At the time of issuing Resolution No. 30/NQ-CP and Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP, the Ministry of Health had not yet compiled complete statistics on these difficulties and problems, so there was no plan to propose regulations for payment of medical examination and treatment costs under health insurance for donated assets that had not yet been fully established as public ownership from March 4, 2023 or earlier.

According to statistics from Vietnam Social Security, the total cost of medical examination and treatment under health insurance implemented on medical equipment that has not been established as public ownership according to Decree No. 29/2018/ND-CP before March 4, 2023 is about 660 billion VND, in 47 provinces and cities. These costs have been implemented for health insurance participants and medical examination and treatment facilities responsible for the quality of the services provided.

In order to resolve the above difficulties, the Ministry of Health is proposing that the Government stipulate that the costs of medical examination and treatment covered by health insurance that have been implemented on assets, means and objects that have been sponsored but have not completed the procedures for establishing full ownership in the period before March 4, 2023 shall be applied according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 118 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment and shall be paid by the Health Insurance Fund within the scope of benefits and levels of benefits of health insurance participants.

Accordingly, medical examination and treatment costs incurred on sponsored assets, vehicles and objects but not yet completed procedures to establish full ownership shall be collected from patients or paid by the Health Insurance Fund in accordance with the provisions of the law on health insurance.

Medical examination and treatment facilities are responsible for the quality and medical services provided from these assets and are allowed to use the facility's funds to maintain, repair and maintain the assets during use./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/go-vuong-thanh-toan-chi-phi-kham-chua-benh-thuc-hien-tren-tai-san-duoc-tai-tro-post1024128.vnp