HÀ NỘI — Increasing health insurance coverage is important in efforts to build a democratic, equal, prosperous and happy society, said Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

The Government leader was speaking at an event co-hosted by the Việt Nam Social Insurance (VSI) and the Ministry of Health in Hà Nội last weekend to mark Việt Nam Health Insurance Day (July 1).

The Party and State always focus on protecting and caring for public health, he said, citing a range of relevant policies and guidelines aimed at helping the public overcome risks and cut medical costs.

However, the PM pointed out the fact that almost 20 million Vietnamese people are still not covered under the Government-sponsored health insurance scheme, many of them from disadvantaged groups or those mired in other difficulties.

In this context, the leader requested Party Committees at all levels, ministries and agencies to complete relevant mechanisms and policies, prioritising household health insurance coverage for those working in the agriculture, fishery and salt sectors.

He stressed the need to ensure equality of medical check-ups and treatment covered by insurance at public and private hospitals, saying the participation of private hospitals in this field would help reduce the overload at public hospitals, as well as wastefulness.

Apart from fast-tracking administrative reform in order to make it easier for citizens to access health insurance and medical services, it is necessary to increase the application of information-technology in implementing health insurance policies, he said.

PM Phúc also underlined the responsibility of businesses, organisations and individuals to pay health insurance for their employees in line with the Law on Health Insurance.

The leader called for joint efforts to enable people in difficult circumstances to access health insurance, thus reaching the target of having 90 per cent of the population covered by health insurance by 2020.

VSI General Director Nguyễn Thị Minh reported that more than 76 million Vietnamese people have to date participated in health insurance and insurance payouts to about 75 million have been made from the Health Insurance Fund in the first half of this year.

Health Minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến said her ministry has carried out specific measures to improve the quality of medical checks-up and treatment. She said projects to ease the load on hospitals and build satellite hospitals, along with regulations on administrative reform and improvement of health workers’ behaviour towards patients, have proven effective. — VNS