5 subjects are completely exempted from hospital fees from December 2018

From December 1, Decree 146/2018/ND-CP detailing and guiding measures to implement a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance took effect with many new points to ensure fairness in the health insurance policy.

Decree 146 adds a number of participating subjects; stipulates that participation by household is not required at the same time; stipulates details of records, conditions, contents and form of health insurance medical examination and treatment contract; removes the regulation on assigning health insurance medical examination and treatment fund to health care facilities (including commune health stations), instead assigning total payment to health facilities; amends and supplements a number of specific regulations on payment of health care costs...

Notably, from December 1, 5 groups of subjects will have 100% of medical examination and treatment costs paid by health insurance:

The first:Groups of people with meritorious services to the revolution; war veterans; people receiving monthly social security benefits; people from poor households, ethnic minorities in difficult or extremely difficult areas; relatives of people with meritorious services to the revolution; people aged 80 or older receiving monthly survivor benefits.

Monday:Support 100% of medical examination and treatment costs and do not apply limits on the payment rate of medicines, chemicals, medical supplies and technical services for revolutionaries before 1945, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, war invalids, people enjoying the same policies as war invalids, resistance fighters infected with toxic chemicals with a labor capacity reduction rate of 81% or more, and children under 6 years old.

Tuesday:100% support for medical examination and treatment costs at commune level.

Wednesday:Support 100% of medical examination and treatment costs for cases where the cost for one medical examination and treatment is lower than 15% of the basic salary.

Thursday:100% support for medical examination and treatment costs when the patient participates in health insurance for 5 consecutive years or more and has a co-payment amount for medical examination and treatment costs in the year greater than 6 months of basic salary, unless the patient goes to the wrong medical examination and treatment facility...

Also according to the new regulation, people who are participating in health insurance but whose card has expired are still entitled to health insurance for medical examination and treatment at those facilities, for a maximum of 15 days from the date the health insurance card expires.

In addition, the new Decree also benefits both patients and medical facilities. In cases where a medical facility only needs to transfer specimens, or transfer a patient to another medical facility for testing, X-rays, or rehabilitation, the insurance will also cover the cost instead of before, each time the medical facility was transferred, due to force majeure, the patient had to redo the tests, causing unnecessary costs for the patient.