Le Tan Can, Deputy Minister of Finance, has signed Decision No. 2717/QD-BTC promulgating a plan to implement Decision No. 844/QD-TTg, dated May 13, 2026, issued by the Prime Minister to implementing Directive No. 52-CT/TW, dated October 3, 2025, of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on universal health insurance in the new period.
The plan aims to define key tasks and assign clear responsibilities, while improving coordination among units under the Ministry in executing duties under Decision No. 844/QD-TTg, dated May 13, 2026, which promulgates the action plan for implementing Directive No. 52-CT/TW, dated October 3, 2025, of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on achieving universal health insurance in the new period (hereinafter referred to as Decision No. 844/QD-TTg).
It also seeks to ensure a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the viewpoints, objectives, tasks, and solutions set out in Directive No. 52-CT/TW, dated October 3, 2025, of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on universal health insurance in the new period (hereinafter referred to as Directive No. 52-CT/TW).
The plan aims to raise awareness and strengthen the accountability of authorities at all levels, sectors, organisations, and the public regarding health insurance. It seeks to bring about a significant shift in awareness and action, establishing participation in health insurance as both a right and a responsibility of every citizen and of society as a whole. This will help ensure the effective implementation of health insurance policies and achieve universal coverage by 2030. At the same time, it will reinforce the Ministry of Finance’s role in managing and overseeing fiscal and budgetary policies supporting the health insurance sector.
The plan sets out the following five key task areas.
First, strengthen leadership and guidance to ensure the effective implementation of health insurance policies, laws, programmes, and plans, while modernising communication, information dissemination, and legal education on health insurance.
The content, formats, and methods used to communicate, disseminate, and explain the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws on health insurance will be revamped to focus on key priorities and cater to different target groups. Digital and multi-platform communications will be expanded to publicise policy information promptly and widely throughout society, encouraging a significant increase in health insurance participation and reinforcing the principle that participation is both a right and a responsibility of every citizen and of society as a whole.
Communication, public awareness campaigns, and outreach efforts will be strengthened to expand health insurance enrolment, with particular emphasis on household-based coverage.
The national population database, national insurance database, and specialised databases will be utilised to identify groups that have not enrolled or whose coverage has lapsed. Targeted measures will then be developed to encourage enrolment and ensure sustained participation in health insurance.
A scheme will be developed to modernise and enhance communication, information dissemination, and legal education on health insurance in the new period.
Monitoring, inspection, and supervision will be strengthened to ensure the execution of schemes, programmes, and plans, as well as specific health insurance tasks, solutions, and roadmaps that have been formulated and put into practice.
Second, coordinate with the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries and agencies to amend, supplement, and refine the health insurance policy and legal framework to achieve universal coverage.
Relevant agencies will review, develop, and refine the regulatory framework governing health insurance.
Mechanisms will be developed and piloted to diversify health insurance packages, including supplementary plans tailored to public needs.
Links and cooperation between public health insurance and commercial policies provided by commercial insurers will be strengthened to prevent duplicate payments for medical expenses and safeguard the entitlements of policyholders across both schemes.
Health insurance contribution rates will be gradually raised from 2027, in line with the phased expansion of coverage and benefit levels. At the same time, financial support for contributions will continue to be expanded for policy beneficiaries, near-poor households, people with disabilities, vulnerable groups, and other priority groups, ensuring the scheme remains financially sustainable while increasing the proportion of the population covered by health insurance.
The development of diverse types of health insurance will be encouraged and facilitated.
The Law on Health Insurance will be reviewed and amended.
Third, strengthen the capacity of state management agencies and social security agencies at both the central and local levels to ensure the effective and balanced management and use of the Health Insurance Fund.
Close and coordinated cooperation with state management agencies will be maintained in implementing health insurance policies. The capacity of advisory bodies responsible for state management and Viet Nam Social Security, which operates under the Ministry, will be strengthened to improve the management and operation of the Health Insurance Fund. The quality and effectiveness of health insurance claims assessment by social security agencies will also be enhanced.
Health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment costs will be monitored transparently and systematically. Regulations will be developed to issue alerts for cost spikes, establish criteria for identifying unreasonable cost increases, and introduce corrective measures for excessive costs arising from unreasonable practices or subjective factors. In coordination with the Ministry of Health, mechanisms for reimbursing covered healthcare services will be developed and implemented. Technical guidance will also be prepared on estimating and adjusting projected expenditure on covered treatments, as well as determining expenditure exceeding projected estimates that is eligible for payment by the Health Insurance Fund.
Cooperation with the Ministry of Health will also focus on developing mechanisms and a roadmap for piloting diverse models of health insurance service provision.
Inter-agency coordination in inspection, examination, and supervision will be stepped up, with strict action taken against violations and health insurance fraud. Measures to prevent corruption, wastefulness, and misconduct in the reimbursement of covered medical costs will be tightened. Efforts will also be made to prevent waste, improper collection of charges, unjustified increases in medical service orders, and other violations of the law governing the management and use of the Health Insurance Fund, thereby safeguarding the entitlements of policyholders.
Fourth, diversify and expand revenue sources to ensure the financial sustainability and growth of the Health Insurance Fund, gradually broaden coverage, and introduce measures to reduce out-of-pocket medical costs for patients.
Efforts will focus on expanding health insurance enrolment, particularly through household-based coverage, to achieve a coverage rate of more than 95.5% of the population by 2026 and universal health insurance coverage by 2030. Annual enrolment targets will be allocated to each locality. Progress will be regularly monitored, analysed, and assessed, with timely follow-up and effective measures introduced to help local authorities meet their targets.
In coordination with the Ministry of Health, the proportion and level of expenditure allocated to disease prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases, and priority groups will be gradually increased, in line with the roadmap for raising health insurance contributions and the financial capacity of the Health Insurance Fund. In particular, the scope of benefits covered by the Fund will be expanded to include selected preventive healthcare services, nutrition, chronic disease management, periodic health check-ups, and screening services, where clinically appropriate.
Mecahnisms will also be developed in coordination with the Ministry of Health to provide direct financial support to insured individuals when accessing healthcare services. Pilot programmes will be introduced to help patients reduce their out-of-pocket co-payments, prioritising those from poor and near-poor households and beneficiaries of social policies.
Fifth, accelerate information technology adoption and digital transformation, expand the use of artificial intelligence, and streamline administrative procedures in the health insurance sector.
Information technology infrastructure will be upgraded, while administrative reform and comprehensive digital transformation across the health insurance sector are fast-tracked. Information systems supporting health insurance management, claims assessment, and reimbursement will be enhanced. Greater use will be made of artificial intelligence and big data to analyse and flag costs, monitor expenditure, detect anomalies, and upgrade health insurance management and covered medical examination and treatment.
Connectivity, data sharing, and interoperability will be ensured between the national health insurance database, national health database, national population database, and other national and specialised databases, in accordance with the Government’s Decree No. 278/2025/ND-CP, dated October 22, 2025, on mandatory data connectivity and sharing among agencies within the political system. These arrangements must safeguard the confidentiality and security of personal health data in compliance with the law.
All administrative procedures in the health insurance sector will be integrated into the National Public Service Portal and the Ministry-level Administrative Procedure Information System. Online public services and digital payments for health insurance contributions will be optimised through digital platforms.
The deployment of artificial intelligence and big data in health insurance claims assessment will be expanded. The capacity of Viet Nam Social Security’s portal for receiving health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment data will also be enhanced to ensure seamless operation and the timely receipt of and response to submitted data.
