Implementing health insurance support for near-poor individuals.

(Baonghean)Recently, in Vinh City, the Project Management Board for Health Support in the North Central Provinces, in coordination with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Provincial Social Insurance Agency, organized a conference to implement health insurance support for near-poor individuals.

Attending the meeting were leaders from the Department of Health, the Social Insurance agency, the head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and specialized social insurance officers from 19 districts, cities, and towns in the province.

At the conference, the project management board provided guidance on handling the collection and support levels of the project to support healthcare in the North Central provinces for health insurance for near-poor individuals after deductions as stipulated by the Health Insurance Law and Circular 09/TTLB-BYT-BTC; shared experiences in conducting point reviews at the Social Insurance, Labor - Invalids & Social Affairs Department of Do Luong district to process data and calculate the difference in costs before and after deductions, thereby drawing lessons for general application in the province; and implemented health insurance for near-poor individuals in 2012, including near-poor households and student insurance.

Currently, the provincial Social Insurance agency has issued insurance cards to 104,414 near-poor individuals with a total amount of nearly 13 billion VND, of which 85,755 individuals are eligible for 100% household participation (40% support project) with a total amount of over 11 billion VND.

To effectively carry out this task, in the coming period, the Project Management Board requests that communes, wards, and towns actively promote and encourage near-poor households to continue participating in purchasing health insurance. This is an opportunity and favorable condition for the near-poor to purchase health insurance cards, contributing to the effective implementation of social security policies and moving towards universal health insurance by 2014.

Thuy Hien