The "touching hearts" policy
On September 9, 2025, General Secretary To Lam, on behalf of the Politburo, signed and promulgated Resolution 72-NQ/TW on a number of breakthrough solutions to strengthen the protection, care, and improvement of people's health.
General Secretary To Lam emphasized that progress must lead to free tuition and free meals for students (Photo: Pham Thang).
Specifically, the Politburo has set a target that by 2030, citizens will be exempt from basic hospital fees within the scope of their health insurance benefits. From 2026, citizens will receive one free annual periodic health check-up or screening.
The government further clarified this with Resolution 282/NQ-CP, assigning the Ministry of Health to develop a plan for waiving hospital fees with a clear roadmap.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan affirmed that waiving basic hospital fees for all citizens through health insurance by 2030 is a highly humane policy, demonstrating the superiority of the system, having profound social welfare significance, and aligning with the people's wishes. It helps detect diseases early, reduces medical costs, and clearly reflects the view that the people are the central subjects, given the highest priority in the development and implementation of policies to strengthen health protection, care, and improvement.
Sharing this view, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan assessed: “This policy touches the hearts of millions of people and is also the aspiration of the whole society. Implementing this policy will create a positive impact, helping people access healthcare services better, proactively prevent diseases, diagnose and treat them early, thereby improving treatment effectiveness and optimizing the use of financial resources.”
Moving towards free medical care, people will no longer have to worry about the financial burden when going for medical examinations and treatment (Photo: Tu Anh).
Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, shared that in his nearly 30 years as a doctor, he has witnessed many difficult patient situations, and not a few people who had just escaped poverty have fallen back into poverty after a period of treatment for a loved one.
According to him, along with the policy of waiving tuition fees, the policy of waiving hospital fees and ensuring that every citizen receives at least one annual health check-up forms a comprehensive direction for the people's healthcare strategy.
This represents a significant shift from a passive approach to treating diseases to a proactive approach to disease prevention, early detection, and timely intervention.
"When the primary healthcare system is strong, people will receive good initial healthcare, effective disease prevention, and many illnesses will be addressed at the grassroots level, significantly reducing costs and burdens for both the people and the healthcare system," Associate Professor Co said.
How do I do that?
According to Deputy Minister of Health Vu Manh Ha, waiving hospital fees is a tool to protect people from financial shocks caused by illness, while also creating a foundation for people to access healthcare services earlier and more effectively.
The Ministry of Health announced that, in preparation for the roadmap to provide basic free medical services by 2030, it completed a cost-effectiveness study of several medical services within the scope of the Project in November 2025, organized an impact assessment, and developed a policy report.
The Ministry of Health has proposed a roadmap for waiving hospital fees, to be implemented in three phases:
From 2026 onwards: Citizens will receive free periodic health check-ups or screenings at least once a year, depending on the target group and priority roadmap. Those participating in health insurance who are near-poor households, and those aged 75 and over receiving social retirement benefits, will have 100% of their medical examination and treatment costs covered within their benefit entitlement.
Phase 2026-2027: Increase health insurance coverage for medicines, medical equipment, and diagnostic and treatment techniques.
Period 2028-2030: The goal is to reduce out-of-pocket healthcare spending to below 30%.
The Ministry of Health has set the following goals for the period 2028–2030: to reduce out-of-pocket expenses to below 30%; to continue increasing the rate and level of health insurance reimbursement for medicines, medical equipment, and technical services; to pilot screening for 2-3 cost-effective diseases; to reimburse preventive services from the health insurance fund; to increase health insurance coverage to over 95% of the population; to adjust the health insurance contribution rate to 5.4% from 2030; and to pilot supplementary and diversified health insurance packages, including long-term care.
From 2032 onwards, the goal is to complete the development of primary healthcare and a smart, multi-tiered, multi-package health insurance payment system.
The Ministry of Health is promoting comprehensive solutions to implement the basic free hospital fee policy, aiming to reduce the financial burden on the people and improve the efficiency of healthcare resource utilization. Accordingly, improving the quality of services at the grassroots level, applying digital technology, and smart payment mechanisms are considered key priorities.
To reduce the burden on higher-level hospitals and help people access primary care in their communities, the Ministry of Health proposes strengthening the capacity of health stations, including investing comprehensively in human resources, facilities, and equipment. Improving the quality of medical examination and treatment at the grassroots level is considered a crucial measure for effectively implementing free hospital services.
"The resolution does not aim for 'absolutely free' healthcare, but rather to minimize co-payment costs for citizens, increase health insurance coverage, reduce mortality due to late disease detection, and build a fair, efficient, and sustainable healthcare system. The ultimate goal is to ensure that all citizens – regardless of region or wealth – have access to essential and basic healthcare services without financial worries," said Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan.
According to the Minister of Health, the entire health sector will synchronously implement tasks and solutions to quickly bring the Resolution into practice, so that people can soon benefit from social security policies.
According to Minister Lan, Resolution 72 is a resolution of strategic, comprehensive, and long-term significance (Photo: TM).
Specifically, the focus will be on comprehensively implementing important projects such as: developing and effectively implementing the National Target Program on healthcare, population and development for the period 2026-2035; the project to provide basic free hospital services within the scope of health insurance benefits according to a roadmap for the people; and implementing free periodic health check-ups or screenings for the people at least once a year according to target groups and priority roadmap starting from 2026….
In addition, it is necessary to strongly promote comprehensive digital transformation, implement and operate electronic medical records and electronic health books, and build a national health database that ensures standards for connection, sharing, and synchronization with the national population and health insurance databases to facilitate data interoperability, save healthcare costs, and serve the management of people's health data throughout their lifecycle.
At the same time, strengthen extensive communication efforts so that the entire society and the people understand the policies and guidelines, and mobilize the people to work together with the health sector to effectively implement the Resolution, raising awareness in self-protection of health.
"We are also aware that this cannot be done by the Ministry of Health alone, but requires the involvement of the entire political system, ministries, departments, localities, and the people."
"We believe that, with shared determination, goals such as increasing life expectancy, reducing the burden of healthcare costs, and expanding universal health insurance will not only be numbers on resolutions, but will gradually become a reality in daily life, so that people can live longer, healthier, and happier lives," the Minister of Health shared.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/lo-trinh-mien-vien-phi-den-nam-2030-cham-care-suc-khoe-toan-dien-nguoi-dan-20260112150516768.htm
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