VietNamNet Bridge – Each student who joins the medical insurance programme would be provided with a social insurance code which could be used for all their lives, according to a new regulation for medical insurance, social insurance and unemployment insurance.
Children’s ward at General Hospital of Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province. – VNA/VNS Photo
The insurance code would be used for recording insurance history and processing insurance payment claims, said Tran Dinh Lieu, deputy general director of Viet Nam Social Insurance (VNSI).
Under the new regulation, the monthly fee for medical insurance for students is 4.5 per cent of the State basic salary level, equal to VND58,500 (US$2.5), increasing from 3 per cent last year.
However, each student would pay 70 per cent of the fee; the rest would be paid by the State.
The fee could be paid in three-, six-, nine- or twelve-month terms.
The cardholders, excluding poor students, receive benefits of up to 80 per cent of their medical treatment fees.
In this school year, many localities have introduced policies to encourage students to join the insurance programme.
Students of poor families may be offered assistance up to 70 per cent of the insurance fees.
Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands)’s Lam Dong Province paid 70 per cent of insurance fees for ethnic minority students.
Student medical insurance is compulsory.
According to the statistics of VNSI, in this school year, the percentage of students joining medical insurance has reached 92.5 per cent, equivalent to 15.9 million students nationwide, as compared to 90.5 per cent and 15.6 million students last school year.
However, to reach the goal of 100 per cent of students joining the medical insurance, schools nationwide were asked to disseminate information about the benefits of medical insurance among students and parents, said Lieu.
In fact, many people, including students and parents, were not aware of the benefits of the medical insurance.
In many education entities, the fee of medical insurance was not separated from other fees, creating misunderstanding among students and parents.
VNS