Extending health insurance collection in schools: Reducing pressure on parents

(Baonghean) - On September 10, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Official Dispatch No. 4660/BGDĐT - CTHSSV on the implementation of health insurance for students (BHYT HSSV), requiring the Departments of Education and Training, universities, academies, colleges and vocational colleges to coordinate with local Social Insurance agencies to collect health insurance premiums from students every 6 months, avoiding concentrated collection at the beginning of the school year...

The above decision of the Ministry of Education and Training has promptly resolved the concerns of parents as well as provided appropriate solutions for schools. However, up to this point, many schools in Vinh City have collected health insurance without “knowing that the Ministry of Education and Training has issued the above document”.

Initial medical examination for students at Vinh Medical University.

A teacher at Hung Loc Secondary School (Vinh City) said: “I was assigned by the school to notify and remind students to pay health insurance as every year, but I do not know whether the regulation is to pay in one go or in multiple installments, because it is not publicized. Every year, in addition to professional work, homeroom teachers like me are given a target of collecting 100% of the required fees, including health insurance for students in the class. If the target is not met, teachers are criticized and even have their year-end competition cut. Last year, the health insurance fee was only nearly 300,000 VND, but there were classes that did not collect enough due to the characteristics of suburban schools, not all students have favorable family circumstances. This year, if we pay 540,000 VND in one go, it will be really difficult to persuade parents to pay in full right from the beginning of the school year.”

Through research, it is known that as of September 16, many schools in Vinh City still collect 15 months of health insurance at once. At Ha Huy Tap 2 Primary School, Ms. Bui Thi Lan Anh - Head teacher of class 1E, said: "The class I am in charge of has 49 students, and up to now, all of them have paid the full amount of 543 thousand VND of health insurance. Many parents also wonder why the payment is so high. I have also clearly explained the changes in the health insurance policy for students this school year, so they are all happy to pay in full." Through a survey of many parents and students at Hung Dung Secondary School, Le Viet Thuat High School..., they said that teachers also explained about the increase in payment from 3% to 4.5% of the basic salary, and that they had to participate for 15 months instead of 12 months as before, but were not instructed on whether to pay at once or in installments.

In the city, only a few schools do not collect the fee at once, such as Truong Thi Primary School, Ha Huy Tap Secondary School, Huynh Thuc Khang High School... Ms. Trinh Thi Nga, Principal of Truong Thi Primary School, said: "At the beginning of this school year, in accordance with the Department's instructions, the school sent a notice to each parent about paying health insurance, clearly explaining the changes in the payment level, participation time and choosing the participation method, paying once or twice during the school year. Up to this point, out of 1,060 students of the school, only nearly 200 students have paid health insurance in a one-time payment method for 15 months." Ms. Le Thi Hong Lam, Vice Principal of Huynh Thuc Khang High School, said: "Because this school year has many sudden changes in the student health insurance policy, up to this point, the school has not yet organized the collection of health insurance but will only collect after the classes have held parent meetings to clearly disseminate the changes in the policy, creating consensus on the method of collecting once or twice."

Through working with relevant authorities, it is known that paying the health insurance fee at the beginning of the school year is not a mandatory regulation in the health insurance policy for students. At the provincial Social Insurance agency, Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Hai, Deputy Head of the Collection Department, said: “According to the revised Law on Health Insurance, starting from this year, the contribution rate will increase from 3% to 4.5% of the basic salary, which means an increase of nearly 150,000 VND/year. The collection of health insurance will be carried out according to the fiscal year (ie from January 1 to December 31 every year) instead of the previous collection of health insurance for students according to the school year. However, students are not required to pay for the entire 15 months, because Joint Circular 41/2014/TTLT-BYT-BTC dated November 24, 2014 of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of health insurance allows collection every 6 months or 1 year and clearly stipulates the responsibilities of the education sector. Furthermore, from June 8, 2015, Vietnam Social Insurance has issued an Official Dispatch requesting the Ministry of Health to allow Continue to flexibly collect health insurance for students in many forms: according to the fiscal year or school year, course and has been agreed by the Ministry of Health and specifically guided by the Ministry of Finance. Thus, if schools collect 15 months of health insurance in a mandatory form, it is contrary to the guiding spirit of the above documents.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thai, Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training, said: “Before the school year, the Department, together with the Provincial Social Insurance and the Provincial Youth Union, issued Joint Document No. 1291/LN-GD&DT-BHXH-TĐ dated August 17, 2015 on guidelines for implementing student health insurance; Document No. 1367/SGD&DT-VP dated August 26, 2015 of the Department of Education and Training on promoting student health insurance for the 2015-2016 school year. According to these documents, school principals are responsible for directing homeroom teachers to fully inform parents about student health insurance policies in the first meeting of the year, and at the same time, instructing parents based on their family's economic conditions to choose the method of paying for 15 months at once or participating in 2 times, absolutely not imposing the method of paying for student health insurance at once right from the beginning of the school year on parents. The collection of health insurance fees is carried out 2 times including: 1st time collecting health insurance fees completed before September 30, 2015; 2nd time collecting health insurance fees completed before March 31, 2016.

On September 11, 2015, after a meeting between the Department of Education and Training, the Provincial Social Insurance and the Nghe An Provincial Youth Union, in order to promptly resolve difficulties and obstacles and discuss specific solutions for students to participate in health insurance right from the beginning of the school year, the Department issued Official Letter 1607/SGD&DT-VP on strengthening the implementation of health insurance for students, requiring the Departments of Education and Training to be responsible for directing principals at all levels to strengthen communication and education work to raise awareness among students and parents about health insurance policies and laws and the role of health insurance in the care and protection of students' health; at the same time, strictly implement the regulations in previous documents. Regarding Official Letter No. 4660 of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Department received it on September 15 and sent it to the Departments of Education and Training and vocational schools for implementation.

Referring to the issue of many schools not "fully informing parents about the student health insurance policy at the parent-teacher meeting at the beginning of the year" but have collected the premiums at once, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thai said: "The reason is that these schools do not fully understand the regulations or want to facilitate the collection and payment of health insurance, reduce time and administrative procedures, so they collect the entire 15 months. In the near future, the Department will request the Department of Education and Training to thoroughly disseminate the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Department to schools, and at the same time, at the end of September, coordinate with the provincial Social Insurance to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team at the beginning of the school year to inspect and rectify the collection of health insurance, avoiding creating unnecessary frustrations among parents and society."

Article and photos:Minh Quan