Up to 53 million Vietnamese people or 62% of the total population have got health insurance policies so far, a rise of 7% over previous years, Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu said at a meeting in Hanoi July 1. Of the total, 14.7 million are the poor and 7.5 million are children under six, the minister added. The Vietnam Social Insurance spent VND3.9 trillion ($784.62 million) to pay hospital costs for more than 23 million patients in the first quarter of this year, up 36% from the same period of 2009. Vietnam targets to collect VND20 trillion from health insurance premiums this year, up 50% from a year earlier, and to provide health insurance services for all locals by 2014.
