Ho Chi Minh City expands social security 'shield', proposes free health insurance for the elderly and students

Ho Chi Minh City is expanding its social security "shield" by proposing free health insurance for students and the elderly (over 65 years old).

Ho Chi Minh City's proposal for free health insurance for students is supported by many parents - Photo: BE HIEU

This policy not only demonstrates the spirit of humanity, but is also a concrete step towards equitable access to healthcare for all people so that no one is left behind.

This is also the direction to realize Resolution 72 of the Politburo on strengthening the protection, care and improvement of people's health, with the goal of reaching over 95% of the population's health insurance coverage by 2026 and reaching universal coverage by 2030. Tuoi Tre recorded some insider opinions on this direction.

* Ms. Pham Thi My Le (Deputy Head of the Representative Board of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of the Elderly):

Improve the quality of life of the elderly

I am very happy and moved by this proposal. This is completely appropriate when the population of Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular is aging very quickly.

In Ho Chi Minh City alone, after the merger, there are now more than 1 million people aged 60 and over, accounting for more than 10% of the population. And currently, about 2/3 of the elderly do not have pensions, equivalent to more than 600,000 people.

Most of the elderly live with their children and grandchildren, many have gone through difficult times together, and do not have much savings.

If the children and grandchildren are well-off and filial, their grandparents will be taken care of, but there are still many people who have to work for a living and do manual labor. In addition, although the average life expectancy of Vietnamese people has increased, the healthy life expectancy is low. Most elderly people have 2-3 chronic non-communicable diseases, requiring long-term treatment, some for life. Without health insurance, health care is extremely difficult.

Another problem is that the birth rate in Ho Chi Minh City is very low, below the replacement level. This means that in the future, the young labor force will decrease, and the burden of caring for the elderly will be greater. In the past, families often had 3-4 generations living together, with grandparents having their children and grandchildren to take care of them.

Now that children have moved out, the elderly live alone, with illnesses, the risk of accidents and risks is higher. If there is health insurance, the health of the elderly will be improved, while reducing the burden on society and the health system.

* Associate Professor, Dr. Le Dinh Thanh (Director of Thong Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City):

Humane policy, completely feasible

Exempting health insurance for students and the elderly not only helps expand universal health insurance coverage, but more importantly, ensures the right to health care for all people.

For the elderly, they are valuable assets of the country, need comprehensive care and be given conditions to continue contributing their intelligence and experience to society.

In the long term, it is necessary to build a comprehensive care model for the elderly based on the "three peaks of the triangle": care at home and in the community - intensive treatment at hospitals with geriatric specialties - nursing and rehabilitation at specialized centers.

Besides students and the elderly, young people of reproductive age also need to receive adequate health care, contributing to maintaining and developing the race. Investing in their health is investing in the future of the country.

I believe that Ho Chi Minh City can completely implement this policy as a locality with strong economic potential and always pioneering in social policies. The financial cost of this policy cannot be compared to the great humanitarian significance that this policy brings.

Free health insurance for students will reduce the burden on many families - Photo: THANH HIEP

* A leader of Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance:

"Filling the gap" in health insurance for students and the elderly

Up to this point, after the merger of Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City still has a group of students who have received partial support (the support level is 30% from before July 1, 2025, 50% from July 1, 2025) and the elderly who have not participated in health insurance due to difficult economic circumstances and are not able to pay the participation fee themselves.

Supporting students in paying health insurance is necessary to ensure their right to primary health care when they are completely dependent on their families. Timely access to health services helps prevent illness, ensure long-term health, study and development, and form the habit of participating in health insurance from a young age.

Meanwhile, the elderly are the most vulnerable group in terms of health, have regular medical needs but have reduced income after retirement or reaching retirement age. Many of them do not have pensions or social benefits, belong to near-poor households or depend on their children and grandchildren.

Supporting this group of people not only helps reduce the burden of medical costs, but also deeply demonstrates the humanistic values ​​in the social security policy of the Party and State.

In addition to being consistent with Resolution No. 72, this policy is also consistent with Decision No. 383 of the Prime Minister approving the National Strategy on the Elderly in Vietnam to 2035, with a vision to 2045, which sets the target for the 2025 - 2030 period that 100% of the elderly have health insurance cards and at least 90% of the elderly receive timely primary health care.

Free health insurance for students creates a practical "shield" of social security for the people - Photo: NHU HUNG

* Associate Professor Nguyen Anh Dung (Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health):

Everyone has access to equitable and sustainable health care.

The 2024 amended Law on Health Insurance and Directive No. 52-CT/TW of the Secretariat issued in early October 2025 on the implementation of universal health insurance in the new period have clearly identified the key task of improving the quality of health insurance examination and treatment, ensuring that all people receive equitable and sustainable health care.

This is an important time for the health sector and Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance to agree on understanding and working methods, ensuring correct, sufficient, timely, transparent and legal payments.

Medical examination and treatment facilities need to carefully study new regulations, proactively review payment procedures, and promptly reflect on difficulties to jointly resolve them, aiming for the goal of reaching over 95% of the population's health insurance coverage by 2030 and significantly improving the quality of health insurance examination and treatment.

* Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu (Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School, Ho Chi Minh City):

Suitable and compatible with the tuition-free policy

This is a very humane proposal, clearly demonstrating the spirit of caring for the young generation and the people of Ho Chi Minh City leaders. For students, this policy has a special meaning because they are at an age where they need to be cared for and have their health monitored regularly.

This is a very appropriate and compatible move with the previous tuition-free policy, aiming at the goal of ensuring that all students can study, develop and enjoy basic social services.

In my opinion, the Ho Chi Minh City government has shown long-term vision and deep concern by focusing on education and health of students. I really hope that in the future, the city will have more policies like this.

These are policies that are both practical and have profound humanistic meaning, contributing to building a humane, tolerant city and moving towards sustainable development.

* Ms. Ha Thi Kim Sa (Principal of Hong Ha Secondary and High School, Ho Chi Minh City):

Hope to spread to many localities

In the context that recently, from the central to local levels, there have been many important policies related to education, demonstrating the deep concern of the Party, State and authorities at all levels for the development of the young generation, this proposal is very timely and reasonable.

I really hope this positive policy of Ho Chi Minh City will spread to many other localities, so that more and more students can benefit.

At the same time, in the future, educational policies between localities will also be implemented more fairly, synchronously and sustainably, helping to create a foundation for comprehensive educational development, gradually narrowing the gap between regions.

* Ms. Pham My Phuong (parent residing in Vuon Lai ward, Ho Chi Minh City):

Feel the care

I am really happy to hear that Ho Chi Minh City proposed to completely exempt health insurance for students. Many parents can feel more secure, and at the same time feel the deep concern of the City for students.

I hope that Ho Chi Minh City will continue to have more policies to care for the comprehensive development of children so that they can grow up healthy and happy in mind, body and spirit, not only in school but also in daily life.

Ensuring equality in society

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City does not have a separate policy to support 100% of health insurance premiums for students and the elderly, while the two localities of Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau (old) have applied similar policies for many years.

Mr. Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that after merging the three localities, the department had a quick discussion with the Social Insurance of Region XXVII about continuing to support and pay health insurance for groups of people supported by the local budget in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and Binh Duong province before. "This is the best news for tens of thousands of people in difficult circumstances and the elderly in these two localities," Mr. Thuong shared.

Mr. Thuong added that from 2020 to 2024, the People's Council of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has issued 4 resolutions to support health insurance payments for a number of students, poor and near-poor people, security forces, people aged 65 and over... Up to now, more than 52,000 people have participated in health insurance with an amount of nearly 33 billion VND that needs continued financial support.

Similarly, in Binh Duong province (old), from 2012 to 2024, the Provincial People's Council also issued two resolutions to support health insurance payments for tens of thousands of people in the elderly, ethnic minorities, those with serious illnesses, unemployed, students in difficult circumstances, and people participating in security and order protection teams...

From this reality, the Department of Health believes that Ho Chi Minh City needs to issue a synchronous policy after the merger to ensure equality in social security, increase management efficiency and strengthen people's trust.

"The timely implementation of the policy will not only expand health insurance coverage and reduce medical examination and treatment costs for people, but also help unify social security regimes among regions in the area, creating a foundation for the large southern urban area to develop harmoniously and sustainably," the Department of Health emphasized.

Elderly people waiting for health insurance examination at Nguyen Thi Thap Hospital (HCMC) - Photo: TU TRUNG

Primary health care facilities must improve their capacity.

Although health insurance participants enjoy many benefits, there are many challenges that require careful preparation. First of all, the information technology system needs to be comprehensively upgraded to meet the requirements of connecting population data, issuing identification codes and making electronic payments safely and accurately.

Medical facilities, especially at the grassroots level, need to enhance their professional capacity and supplement appropriate human resources to effectively implement medical examination and treatment services at all levels of technical expertise, especially in the context of a possible increase in the number of medical examinations and treatments due to the lack of distinction between administrative boundaries - completely new contents in this policy.

The city's health sector calls on every citizen and every family to proactively participate and continuously maintain their health insurance card to protect their own health and that of the community.

A series of beneficial policies when people participate in health insurance

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that July 1, 2025 is a special milestone because this is the official date when a series of new, groundbreaking policies in the revised Law on Health Insurance come into effect.

year 2024.

Accordingly, more vulnerable groups in society are supported to participate in health insurance such as village health workers, part-time workers in villages and residential groups, folk artisans and excellent artisans, and victims of human trafficking.

In addition, many groups are granted completely free health insurance cards such as regular militia, people aged 70-75 from near-poor households receiving monthly allowances, people receiving social pensions, workers past working age but not yet eligible for pensions...

This is a clear demonstration of humane policies, covering and protecting vulnerable groups, creating conditions for equitable access to health care for all people.

People can enjoy many new services such as medical examination and treatment at home, treatment of serious illnesses at specialized hospitals without referral, support for transportation costs, reimbursement of health insurance drugs when hospitals lack drugs, reduction of family contribution levels and especially 100% cost benefits if participating in health insurance continuously for 5 years or more.

All of this shows that health insurance is not only a financial tool but also a sustainable "shield" of social security, accompanying people in health care.

THU HIEN - XUAN MAI - TRONG NHAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-mo-rong-la-chan-an-sinh-de-xuat-mien-phi-bao-hiem-y-te-cho-nguoi-gia-va-hoc-sinh-20251026092920704.htm