Why are some ethnic minority students not supported with health insurance?

Many parents with children studying at primary school in DLiê Yang commune (Ea H'leo, Dak Lak) accused of having their health insurance money "withheld", but theeducation sector affirmed that it was a misunderstanding.

Many students in DLiê Yang commune are ethnic minorities but are not supported under Decree 75 because the school collects insurance money quickly - Photo: TRUNG TAN

On November 8, Mr. Nguyen Duc Cong - Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ea H'leo district - said that he is continuing to organize propaganda and coordinate the payment of part of the health insurance money to parents of students in DLiê Yang commune.

Because the school collects health insurance... too quickly.

Previously, many parents whose children studied at Nguyen Trai and DLiê Yang primary schools (DLie Yang commune) complained that their children were not refunded 70% of VND 632,000 according to the spirit of Decree 75 of the Government (effective from November 1, 2023 - PV).

Decree 75 adds a group of people who are supported with at least 70% of health insurance premiums, including ethnic minorities living in disadvantaged and mountainous areas.

"However, many parents wonder why, almost by the end of 2024, they still have not received 70% of the refund according to the decree," said one parent.

Ms. HL (Ede ethnic group, residing in DLiê Yang commune), whose child studies at Nguyen Trai Primary School, said that at the beginning of the year, her child paid health insurance to the school.

"In Ea H'leo district, many schools are refunded 70% of the health insurance premium, but my child at Nguyen Trai School and my grandchild at DLiê Yang School are not covered. When I asked, the school said they had already collected the insurance premium and issued the card, so they could not refund it," said Ms. HL.

Regarding this, Mr. Cong affirmed: "There is absolutely no way that the school, the education sector or the insurance company has embezzled this support money from students. The reason is that these two schools collect student health insurance money... too quickly, which is why this misunderstanding has arisen," Mr. Cong said.

What do the education and insurance industries say?

According to Mr. Cong, the reason for this incident was that at the beginning of the 2024 enrollment year, teachers instructed parents to buy health insurance for their children entering grade 1 as they did every year.

At Nguyen Trai and DLiê Yang primary schools, 100 parents completed paying health insurance for their children in early September 2023 (phase 1), before Decree 75 was issued. Their health insurance cards were activated a few days later.

"This means that the insurance cards of these 100 students were used before Decree 75 was issued, so they were not refunded 70% of the amount paid. Meanwhile, hundreds of students of the two schools mentioned above paid later (2nd and 3rd installments), after the Decree was applied, they were all refunded in full according to the support level," Mr. Cong explained.

According to Mr. Cong, at the end of October 2024, the Department of Education and Training also invited the insurance agency, the principals of two primary schools, inspectors and parents to attend a meeting to resolve the above issue.

The meeting agreed to refund 70% of the insurance amount in 3 months (October, November, December of 2023, refunding more than 60,000 VND/student - PV). "We try to find the best solution for the people but also have to comply with the regulations," said Mr. Cong.

Speaking more about this, Mr. Le Thang Kiem - Director of Ea H'leo District Health Insurance - said that Decree 75 supporting ethnic minorities and disadvantaged areas will take effect from the beginning of November 2023.

Therefore, from the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, the unit will guide schools to let ethnic minority students participate in commune health insurance to receive support, reducing some of the difficulties for parents.

According to him, the entire Ea H'leo district has about 13,000 people who are eligible for support under Decree 75. Up to now, 8,000 people have participated, including more than 2,000 students, and have been supported and refunded 70% of their health insurance premiums according to regulations.

"For the 100 students mentioned above, it is only because they paid early, participated in health insurance for students and the card was valid, so they were not fully refunded, but only paid for the last 3 months of 2023. We are currently doing the procedures to refund this amount to the students," said Mr. Kiem.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-mot-so-hoc-sinh-dan-toc-thieu-so-khong-duoc-ho-tro-tien-bao-hiem-y-te-20241108121052762.htm