Vietnam is likely to raise the percentage of health insurance coverage to more than 70% of the national population by 2015 and 80% by 2020 from the current 68%. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh asked the Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Social Insurance Agency at a meeting in Hanoi to mark the Vietnam Health Insurance Day on July 1. “Farmers, fishermen, freelancers and low incomers should be given more support for health insurance,” Mr. Ninh said. To encourage the entire population to join heath insurance network, he emphasized the need to streamline administrative procedures and increase the quality of medical service as well as the attitude of health workers toward insured patients. Last year, 60.5 million people held health insurance cards, rising by 6% from a year earlier, and 121 million people arrivals received healthcare treatment paid by the social agency during the year. In 2013, the agency targets to have revenues of VND166 trillion and to closely monitor the payment of hospital fees through healthcare insurance cards to safeguard the rights of the insured. (vietnamplus.vn July 1)
