Caring for and protecting future generations with student health insurance

More than 95% of students in the province participate in health insurance

As one of the bright spots in the rate of student health insurance participation, having maintained a steady 100% rate for many consecutive years, Cua Nam I Primary School (Vinh City) has many good and effective ways of carrying out this important task. Ms. Le Thi Bac - Principal said that the school's board of directors determined that "coverage" of health insurance is not only a goal set to "reach the finish line" in terms of data, but more importantly, the work of developing health insurance participants must go hand in hand with the process of raising awareness, helping each cadre, teacher, parent, and student clearly understand the practical benefits and humanistic meaning of that small card.

Students of Le Loi Secondary School (Vinh City) compete in tug of war and physical training. Photo: Phuoc Anh

To do that, right from the beginning of the school year, at the Party cell meetings and professional meetings, the school board set specific goals, assigned tasks and attached the target of promoting health insurance for students to the year-end emulation assessment for staff and teachers. In addition, strengthen coordination with the local government, sectors and organizations to regularly do a good job of propaganda, review and classify students according to each residential area, family circumstances... to have a suitable direction to mobilize participation. To help parents have more confidence in the value of health insurance cards, physical education and health care for students at school are maintained regularly and with quality; incidents during the students' learning and playing are handled promptly by school health staff.

Kindergarten students in Do Luong district during class. Photo: My Ha

Through the process of participating in student health insurance for their children, many parents have really changed their views and perceptions. Ms. Dang Thi Xoan (Hung Khanh commune, Hung Nguyen) has 2 children studying in grades 3 and 7. For a long time, she has been paying for health insurance cards for her children, but with the thought that "health insurance is one of the funds and fees at the beginning of the year at school that must be complied with, it is impossible not to pay".

However, 2 years ago, she truly understood the benefits and humane meaning of that small card. During a regular health check-up at school, the school health worker informed the family about the signs of heart defects in her little daughter. Panicking, she took her child to the doctor, but unfortunately, that risk became a reality. The journey of "fighting" the deadly disease was so arduous and costly, Ms. Xoan said that, without the health insurance card, her family would not have been able to take good care of her child like now.

The high rate of participation in health insurance for students is not only in schools located in convenient areas, city centers, but also in many disadvantaged areas, the number of students participating in health insurance has achieved very positive results. Nghi Huong Primary School, Le Thi Bach Cat Secondary School, Cua Lo Town Continuing Education Center, Dong Van 1 Primary School, Nghia Dong Secondary School, Tan Ky High School... all have 100% student participation. Notably, in Nam Dan district alone, 100% of schools located in the district have students participating in health insurance with an absolute rate.

A class at Hoi Nga Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities - Quy Chau. Photo by My Ha

Although the growth rate of health insurance participation for students in Nghe An has not yet reached the target of 100% assigned by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1167/QD-TTg on adjusting the assigned target for health insurance implementation in the period 2016 - 2020, with its own specific difficulties, this growth is still highly appreciated.

If in the 2012-2013 school year, the whole province only had 79.86% of students participating in health insurance, then by the 2013-2014 school year, the rate of students participating in health insurance increased to nearly 88.55%. In the 2014-2015 school year, this number was 90.39%. In the 2015-2016 school year, although the adjusted contribution rate increased from 3% to 4.5% of the basic salary, the results were still positive when the rate of students participating in health insurance reached 91.88%. By the 2016-2017 school year, the number of students participating in health insurance reached 93.96%. In the 2017-2018 school year, the rate reached 95.49%.

Many benefits

The contribution level is not too high compared to the general level of economic and social life of the majority of people today, but the benefits from the health insurance card are very large. According to the provisions of the Law, students are provided with primary health care at school (first aid, initial treatment for accidents, injuries, common illnesses during the study period); medical examination and treatment in case of suicide, self-inflicted injury; medical examination and treatment for physical and mental injuries caused by the person's illegal behavior.

In addition, students are paid for the cost of transporting patients from the district level to the higher level for students with BT, HN, DT, DK, XD and TS card codes in emergency cases or when being treated as inpatients and needing to be transferred to a technical level; are paid for medicines, chemicals, medical supplies, and medical technical services according to the rates and payment conditions prescribed by the Minister of Health. In fact, in recent years, in the province, there have been hundreds of cases of students who have received several hundred million VND in payments from the Health Insurance Fund during their treatment.

From the health insurance fund, primary health care in schools has received investment attention. Photo: Phuoc Anh

No one buys a health insurance card with the “desire” to use it. The common mentality is that buying a health insurance card is to buy peace of mind, to buy insurance for the future if there is a health risk. In other words, once participating in the health insurance system, each parent, student, and pupil not only has a “lucky charm” for themselves, but also demonstrates community responsibility and the spirit of solidarity “one for everyone, everyone for one”. With that good meaning and goal, the development of health insurance for students is being promoted by the Social Insurance sector and departments, branches, and organizations, aiming to “cover” everyone and every household.

The level of medical examination and treatment benefits according to health insurance card follows prescribed procedures

• 100% of health insurance costs for the following cases:
- Students with health insurance card codes: BT, HN, DT, DK, XD, TS; medical examination and treatment at commune level; Total cost of one medical examination and treatment is lower than 15% of the basic salary (currently 208,500 VND);
- Students are also entitled to 100% of the cost in case they have participated in health insurance for 5 consecutive years or more, and at the same time have the amount of co-payment for medical examination and treatment costs in the year greater than 6 months of basic salary (8,340,000 VND), then the Social Insurance agency will issue a certificate of no co-payment in the year.
• 95% of medical examination and treatment costs when students have health insurance card codes: TC, CN;
• 80% of medical examination and treatment costs for HS, SV, TA, TQ, TY, TV card codes.
Emergency: Students can be examined and treated at any medical facility.