Minister of Health responds to proposal to reduce health insurance premiums

Before the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, voters of Bac Lieu province sent a petition related to the health sector. Specifically, voters of this province said that the price of voluntary health insurance is currently increasing according to the basic salary level, causing difficulties for groups that do not receive salaries from the state budget and do not have a stable income.

Therefore, voters recommend that the Ministry of Health adjust the regulations in the direction of designing the price of voluntary health insurance divided into 2 contribution levels for 2 different groups of subjects as reflected above, especially regulating appropriate contribution levels for people in different areas, regions, and areas (urban, rural) to create favorable conditions, encourage people to participate in purchasing voluntary health insurance in a fair and reasonable manner.

Also related to health insurance, voters of Can Tho City requested the Ministry of Health to consider and propose a more appropriate adjustment of the contribution rate for households because the current rate applied according to the newly increased basic salary is too high while the majority of health insurance participants in households have low incomes and do not benefit from the new basic salary.

Voters in Nghe An province proposed lowering health insurance premiums to reduce the economic burden on people, ensuring that all subjects have access to this social security policy.

Responding to these recommendations, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that based on legal regulations, the National Assembly and the Government have stipulated that the health insurance contribution rate is 4.5% of salary or pension, disability allowance, unemployment allowance or basic salary based on the socio-economic development conditions of the country and the contribution capacity of the state, enterprises, workers and people.

To encourage and support people to participate in health insurance, the Government has issued many Decrees, stipulating the contribution levels and support for health insurance contributions for the poor, near-poor, ethnic minorities, people living in areas with particularly difficult economic conditions, and agricultural, forestry, fishery and salt-producing households with average living standards.

At Point e, Clause 1, Article 7, Decree No. 146/2018/ND-CP and Clause 11, Article 1, Law No. 51/2024/QH15 amending and supplementing Article 13 of the Law on Health Insurance also stipulates the health insurance contribution rate for the group participating in health insurance by household as follows: (1) The first person contributes 4.5% of the basic salary; (2) The second, third, and fourth people contribute 70%, 60%, and 50% of the first person's contribution rate, respectively; (3) From the fifth person onwards, the contribution rate is 40% of the first person's contribution rate.

In addition, at Point b, Clause 3, Decree No. 75/2023/ND-CP stipulates: Based on the local budget capacity and other legal funding sources, the People's Committee of the province or centrally-run city shall submit to the People's Council of the province or city to decide on the level of health insurance support for the subjects. higher than the minimum support level and the support level for those who are not entitled to support according to current regulations.

According to the head of the health sector, with the scope of health insurance benefits enjoyed being "relatively complete", the current contribution level "is considered relatively low compared to countries with similar socio-economic development conditions". Therefore, Minister Dao Hong Lan hopes that voters will understand and support the health insurance policy.

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From July 1, 2024, the basic salary will be adjusted to increase from 1.8 million to 2.34 million VND/month, leading to changes in the family health insurance contribution level.
Specifically, the contribution level for the first person in the family participating in health insurance is 1,263,600 VND/year (an increase of 291,600 VND compared to before); the second person is 884,520 VND/year (an increase of 204,100 VND); the third person is 758,160 VND/year (an increase of 174,900 VND); the fourth person is 631,800 VND (an increase of 145,800 VND).
From the fifth person onwards, the contribution level is VND 505,440/year (an increase of VND 116,640).

The Law on Health Insurance (amended in 2024) stipulates that the contribution rate for self-insured health insurance groups, including household members, is up to 6% of the reference rate.

In its proposal and recommendation to the Government and ministries and branches at the Conference on implementing health work in 2025, the Ministry of Health requested that ministries support adjusting health insurance premium rates according to a roadmap suitable to the state budget and people's ability to pay, creating conditions to gradually expand the list of medical examination and treatment services, calculating management costs, depreciation, and human resources costs for comprehensive care into the price of medical services.