Integrating the Poor into Universal Health Coverage in Vietnam

This case study is aimed at providing a descriptive assessment of the key features of Vietnam's Social Health Insurance (SHI), focusing on the impediments to integrating the poor into universal coverage. The trajectory of SHI in Vietnam is similar to that of many other countries in the East Asia and Pacific region. The poor were covered under a separate Health Care Fund for the Poor to begin with. The 2009 Law on Health Insurance merged all of the different programs into one. Health insurance premiums for the poor were fully subsidized by the government and enrolment became mandatory, resulting in almost complete enrollment of the poor by 2011. Vietnam has combined elements of contributory social health insurance with substantial levels of tax financing to provide coverage for the poor and informal sector. The case study is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the institutional structure and system characteristics of Vietnam's SHI. Section 3 addresses the main topic of the case study - the impediments to integrating the poor. Section 4 concludes by addressing the pending agenda.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Somanathan, Aparnaa, Dao, Huong Lan, Tien, Tran Van
Format: Working Paper biblioteca
Language:en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington DC 2013-01
Subjects:ability to pay, abuse, access to health care, access to hospital, access to services, Adult mortality, Adult mortality rate, adverse selection, aged, ambulatory care, Capitation, capitation payment, capitation system, certification, child delivery, child health, Clinical laboratory, clinics, Communicable diseases, contraception, Contraceptive prevalence, contribution rate, cost control, cost-effectiveness, delivery system, Dental care, Dependency ratio, developing countries, diagnosis, Diagnostic Assessment, Dialysis, doctors, drug list, drugs, economic growth, Economic Review, elderly, Emergency services, enrollees, equity in access, fee schedule, Fee-for-service, fee-for-service basis, Fee-for-service payment, fertility, fertility rate, financial barriers, financial protection, financial risks, general practitioners, government agencies, gross domestic product, Gynecology, health care, Health Care Program, health care providers, health care system, Health Coverage, Health Economics, Health Expenditure, health expenditures, health facilities, health financing, health financing system, Health Insurance, health insurance funds, health insurance program, health insurance schemes, Health Organization, health outcomes, health policy, health risks, health sector, health services, health spending, health status, Health Strategy, Health System, Health System Financing, health systems, Health Systems Strengthening, healthcare, healthcare services, hospital autonomy, hospital beds, hospital care, hospital revenues, Hospital Services, hospitals, ill health, illnesses, immunization, incentives for providers, incidence analysis, income, income countries, income elasticity, Income inequality, Indexes, inequities, Infant, Infant mortality, Infant mortality rate, Infant mortality rates, infection rates, informal payments, informal sector, inpatient care, insurance package, insurance premium, insurance premiums, insurance system, insurers, Integration, labor force, Life expectancy, Life expectancy at birth, live births, local governments, market economy, Maternal mortality, Maternal mortality rate, medical care, medical care costs, medical education, medical equipment, Medicines, midwives, Ministry of Health, minority, morbidity, mortality, National Health, national health insurance, national health insurance fund, National Health System, Neonatal mortality, normal deliveries, nurses, nursing, nursing care, nursing homes, Nutrition, outpatient services, patients, payments for health care, Physician, Physicians, pocket payments, policy change, Policy Document, policy formulation, population density, population groups, populous countries, pregnant women, prenatal care, prescriptions, preventive care, price controls, primary care, private hospital sector, private pharmacies, private sector, probability, progress, provider payment, provincial hospital, provincial hospitals, provision of care, public health, Public health expenditure, public health infrastructure, Public health services, Public Health System, Public hospital, public hospitals, public providers, Public Provision, public sector, quality of health, quality of health care, quality of services, quality services, referrals, rehabilitation, research institutions, resource allocation, respect, rural areas, rural population, sanitation, sanitation facilities, school children, service delivery, service provider, service providers, Skilled birth attendance, Social Affairs, Social Health Insurance, social mobilization, Social Security, technical capacity, tertiary levels, Tuberculosis, under-five mortality, universal access, Universal Health Insurance Coverage, urban development, urbanization, user fees, village health workers, visits, vulnerable groups, woman, workers, working-age population,
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13315
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This case study is aimed at providing a descriptive assessment of the key features of Vietnam's Social Health Insurance (SHI), focusing on the impediments to integrating the poor into universal coverage. The trajectory of SHI in Vietnam is similar to that of many other countries in the East Asia and Pacific region. The poor were covered under a separate Health Care Fund for the Poor to begin with. The 2009 Law on Health Insurance merged all of the different programs into one. Health insurance premiums for the poor were fully subsidized by the government and enrolment became mandatory, resulting in almost complete enrollment of the poor by 2011. Vietnam has combined elements of contributory social health insurance with substantial levels of tax financing to provide coverage for the poor and informal sector. The case study is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the institutional structure and system characteristics of Vietnam's SHI. Section 3 addresses the main topic of the case study - the impediments to integrating the poor. Section 4 concludes by addressing the pending agenda.