A patient is treated at Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City will support the purchase of health insurance for patients and patients’ relatives nationwide.

This is the first hospital in the country to assist patients to purchase health insurance cards.

Dr. Nguyễn Tri Thức, deputy minister of Health, said that he assigned the hospital’s social work department to purchase health insurance for patients nationwide.

This initiative aims to implement Project 06 of the national digital transformation programme and move toward the goal of universal health insurance, said Thức, who is also in charge of managing Chợ Rẫy Hospital.

The hospital’s social work department has connected with units capable of supporting the purchase of health insurance across the country.

For patients admitted to the hospital who do not have health insurance, the departments will proactively guide their relatives to the social work department for consultation and assistance with the health insurance purchase procedures.

In cases where hospitalised patients face financial difficulties, the clinical department will attach a proposal for financial assistance to facilitate the social work department in purchasing health insurance donated to patients from funds raised by benefactors.

Lê Minh Hiển, head of the hospital’s social work department, said that most patients are transferred from other cities and provinces, with many of them in difficult economic circumstances.

There are patients who are admitted in critical condition but are unable to purchase health insurance due to financial hardships, resulting in burdensome medical costs or an inability to pay for treatment, Hiển said.

In reality, there are cases where medical bills amount to billions of đồng, or patients in the intensive care unit may incur costs of VNĐ7-8 million (US$270-310) a day without having health insurance, he said.

Previously, the hospital had also implemented several solutions to support patients in need, such as donating health insurance and calling for assistance from benefactors.

Hiển said that the initiative will help all patients enjoy health insurance benefits, in line with the Government policy and spirit of “no one left behind.”

Therefore, patients and their relatives who have citizen identification cards but have not purchased health insurance can contact the hospital’s social work department to obtain insurance, regardless of which province the patients come from, he added.

Chợ Rẫy Hospital is a special-grade hospital under the Ministry of Health, and the largest health care facility in the southern region.

The hospital admits around 150,000 inpatients and performs over 42,000 surgical interventions a year. — VNS