Encouraging people to participate in voluntary health insurance in mountainous areas, "difficulties become more difficult"

Due to unemployment and no income, Ms. Vi Thi Giang's family (in blue shirt) cannot afford to participate in voluntary health insurance.

The rate of voluntary health insurance participation has decreased.

The family of Ms. Vi Thi Giang, a Tay ethnic in Trung Doan village, Hoa Mac commune, Van Ban district, has 5 members, all of whom do not have health insurance. Ms. Giang said that before, when she was working for a company outside the province, her income was stable, and she was able to send money back to buy health insurance for her family members. However, in 2024, the company dissolved and she no longer has a job, so she has not been able to buy health insurance.

“I don’t have a job this year, so I don’t have money to buy health insurance for my family. I know that buying health insurance has many benefits, especially when I get sick, it reduces a lot of medical expenses, but my family is so poor that I have to give up,” Giang shared.

According to statistics, from the beginning of 2024 until now, Hoa Mac commune has only 80% of people participating in health insurance. Although it is a new rural commune, the lives of people in the commune are mainly agricultural, low income, so mobilizing people to participate in voluntary health insurance is very difficult.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hanh, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: According to Decree 75 of the Government , ethnic minority people are supported with 70% of the cost of purchasing voluntary health insurance, so ethnic minority people only have to pay 30% of the cost when participating in voluntary health insurance; however, the rate of people participating in voluntary health insurance in the commune is still low.

“For new rural communes, the regulation that people participating in health insurance must reach 90% or more, so with the rate of 80%, Hoa Mac is currently not meeting this criterion. We are also very worried, not only does it affect the maintenance of the criteria in the New Rural criteria set, but the fact that people do not have health insurance also directly affects the work of caring for and protecting people's health. Hoa Mac commune is striving from now until November to mobilize people to participate in health insurance to reach at least 90% or more,” Mr. Hanh added.

According to statistics from the Social Insurance Department of Lao Cai province, Van Ban district is the locality with the lowest rate of people participating in health insurance among the 9 districts, towns and cities of Lao Cai province. Currently, the entire Van Ban district has only reached nearly 84.1% of people with health insurance.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang, Deputy Director of Van Ban District Social Insurance, said: After Decision 861 took effect, Van Ban was the locality most affected with about 30,000 health insurance cards expiring. Along with that, since July 1, the basic salary has increased, so the health insurance premium in general and voluntary health insurance in particular have also increased, so mobilizing people to buy voluntary health insurance has been difficult, but now it is even more difficult.

“The basic salary has increased but the income of farmers has not increased; voluntary participation in health insurance is mainly due to people voluntarily participating, there are no sanctions or regulations forcing people to participate; therefore, propaganda and mobilization work is still the only solution. Since the beginning of the year, the district Social Insurance agency has organized 480 propaganda sessions at the grassroots level to mobilize people to participate in health insurance,” Ms. Trang added.

Strengthening propaganda and mobilization to people about the superior policies of health insurance

Salary increase - "difficulties become more difficult"

In the first 6 months of 2024, the rate of people participating in health insurance in Lao Cai province reached 93%, this figure has not met the target assigned by the Prime Minister . After the impacts of Decision 861, the Government issued Decree 75/2023/ND-CP on supporting 70% of the central budget for ethnic minority people in communes of Region I when participating in voluntary health insurance. This clearly demonstrates the attention of the Party and State for people in remote and isolated areas.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of Lao Cai Provincial Social Insurance, with the characteristics of a mountainous province, over 60% of the population are ethnic minorities, the propaganda and mobilization of people to participate in voluntary health insurance in the past time has encountered many difficulties.

“For example, for a family of 5, if they had previously participated in voluntary health insurance, the contribution would have been 3,110,400 VND/12 months. This figure will be 4,043,520 VND according to the new basic salary from July 1; an increase of more than 900,000 VND, a considerable amount for people in the highlands. Therefore, mobilizing people to participate in voluntary health insurance is currently facing many difficulties,” Mr. Tuan Anh emphasized.

In the first 6 months of 2024, the health insurance coverage rate in Lao Cai province reached 93%.

The health insurance policy has gradually affirmed and promoted its role as one of the main pillars of the social security system; an important health financing mechanism to help people avoid falling into poverty when they are sick. Therefore, the propaganda and mobilization of people to participate in health insurance requires the participation of the entire political system; in which, strengthening solutions to call for and mobilize funding from society to continue supporting those who still have difficulty in purchasing health insurance, towards the goal of universal health insurance.

Nearly 20 billion VND to support health insurance payments for near-poor households in Lao Cai

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/van-dong-nguoi-dan-tham-gia-bhyt-tu-nguyen-o-vung-cao-kho-cang-them-kho-1721968720476.htm