Vietnam Health Care Service Prices to Hike 20% Starting November

Prices of 1,800 health care services, including prices of surgeries and operations by medical staffs, in Vietnam will increase 20% starting November this year, Head of the Financial Planning Department under the Ministry of Health (MoH) Nguyen Nam Lien told the Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh newspaper on Oct 12. The adjustment will apply on patients having health insurance, which accounts for approximately 70% of total population. According to the MoH, in order to ease financial pressure on health insurance, people must co-pay 20% of the medical fees. This hike is the second adjustment in the last three years. Regarding the effect of the prices hike on the 30% of population who is not covered by health insurance, Mr. Lien said that those people will not be affected much since public hospitals will keep the same medical service fees for uninsured patients. (Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh – Business Times Oct 12 p6)