The government continues to remove difficulties in paying for health insurance and medicine.

This new Resolution amends Clause 4 of Resolution No. 144 issued by the Government on November 5, 2022.

Amending regulations on payment of medical examination and treatment costs under health insurance

The Resolution clearly states: Allow continued payment of medical examination and treatment costs under health insurance for technical services performed by machines provided by contractors after winning the bid for materials and chemicals according to the contractor selection results approved by competent authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Bidding.

For contracts signed before November 5, 2022, the term of the contract shall apply.

For contracts signed from November 5, 2022, they will be implemented until there is a legal document regulating this issue, including contracts signed in the form of direct procurement.

In case the contract term specified in both cases above expires, payments will continue until all purchased materials and chemicals are used up.

According to Resolution 30, in case the bidding documents stipulate that the winning bidder for materials and chemicals is responsible for providing medical equipment to use the materials and chemicals, the winning bidder must provide medical equipment according to the investor's request.

The medical examination and treatment costs of technical services performed by machines provided by the contractor after winning the bid for materials and chemicals specified in this clause shall be paid by the Health Insurance Fund. In case the contract expires, payment shall continue until the purchased materials and chemicals are used up.

Resolution 30 clearly states that medical facilities are allowed to pilot the application of guidelines on building bidding package prices in 2023, specifically:

a) When developing the bid package price, in case the same type of medical equipment is manufactured by different manufacturers, the investor shall consider and decide to assign the Scientific Council of the unit to develop the technical features and configuration according to the professional requirements of the unit. Based on the features and technical configuration developed by the Scientific Council, the unit shall organize the collection of quotations according to the provisions in Point b of this Clause.

b) The investor determines the bid package price based on at least one of the following documents:

- Market prices are referenced from suppliers' quotes in one of the following forms:

+ The investor shall send a notice inviting bids with technical requirements to the Ministry of Health's electronic information portal or the online public service portal on medical equipment management (https://dmec.moh.gov.vn) or the unit's electronic information page or other forms as prescribed by the law on bidding within a minimum period of 10 days. After the notice inviting bids expires, the investor shall base on the number of received quotations to establish the bid package price. In case there are only one or two distributors or enterprises (hereinafter referred to as distributors) providing quotations, the received quotations shall be used as the basis for establishing the bid package price.

+ Investors are allowed to get quotes directly from the distributor in case there is only one distributor or to ensure compatibility in technology and copyright that cannot be purchased from other distributors.

The determination of the bid package price is based on the technical features, usage needs, and financial capacity of the investor.

c) In case the bid package consists of many separate parts, clearly state the price for each part in the bid package price.

Allow medical facilities to use medical equipment that has been donated, given, donated, contributed, aided, or sponsored by domestic or foreign individuals and organizations (including joint venture or association medical equipment whose contracts have expired) but have not yet completed procedures to establish public ownership for medical examination and treatment. Technical services performed using this medical equipment are paid for by the Health Insurance Fund. Medical examination and treatment facilities are responsible for the quality of medical services provided from this medical equipment and are allowed to use the facility's funds to maintain, repair, and service medical equipment during use.

Ministry of Health issues guidelines on building medical equipment bidding package prices in the second quarter

The Resolution clearly states the responsibilities of ministries and branches, in which the Government assigns the Ministry of Health to be responsible for developing and promulgating guidelines on developing prices for medical equipment bidding packages.

The Ministry of Health needs to amend and supplement the list of drugs for centralized bidding at the national and local levels to ensure that it is consistent with the bidding organization capacity of each level and the supply capacity of enterprises to provide sufficient and timely drugs for medical examination and treatment activities.

The Ministry researches and develops a mechanism to ensure rare drugs and drugs with limited supply.

The Ministry of Health needs to develop and issue instructions on sample bidding documents for bidding packages of medicinal materials and traditional medicines for online bidding.

The Government requires the above tasks to be completed in the third quarter of 2023.

The Ministry also needs to review and specifically evaluate the reception of used medical machinery and equipment donated, donated, contributed, sponsored, and aided by organizations and individuals for medical facilities to use for medical examination and treatment. On that basis, coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and agencies to propose specific solutions to report to competent authorities for consideration and decision to complete in the second quarter of 2023...

Tran Thuong