To date, the health insurance fund has covered nearly VND 100 million of her treatment costs. Trần Thị Dung shared that every treatment session is extremely costly, and without health insurance, her family could hardly afford it. With the insurance fund covering most of the hospital expenses, she feels more secure to continue her treatment.

Her story is not an isolated case but a vivid testament to the humanitarian value of health insurance policies. Recognizing these practical benefits, Điện Biên province has carried out various measures to expand coverage, bringing social security closer to the people and advancing the goal of universal healthcare.

Over the years, alongside enhancing medical examination and treatment quality, Điện Biên province has consistently identified expanding health insurance as a central task to guarantee social welfare and achieve universal healthcare. Through the engagement of the entire political system, efforts to increase participation have achieved encouraging results, progressively introducing policies to all segments of the population.

Currently, the entire province records nearly 650,000 health insurance participants, reaching a coverage rate of nearly 96% of the population. Since the beginning of the year, the province has logged approximately 371,000 health insurance-covered medical visits, with total disbursements from the health insurance fund reaching around VND 322 billion. Notably, many individuals with critical illnesses have received substantial payments from the fund, easing their financial burdens and enabling peace of mind during treatment.

Parallel to expanding coverage, the provincial social security agency focuses on improving service quality, facilitating public access to medical care through health insurance. Nguyễn Xuân Thảnh, Deputy Director of the provincial Social Security office, stated that data linkage between social security authorities and healthcare facilities has been synchronized, allowing citizens to use chip-based citizen identity cards, the VNeID application, or the VssID application instead of paper health insurance cards during visits. Accelerating digital transformation has shortened processing times and ensured the full rights of insured individuals.

Nguyễn Xuân Thảnh noted that starting July 1, 2026, new provisions of the amended Law on Health Insurance took official effect, further broadening participant benefits, facilitating access to medical services, and cutting administrative procedures. This serves as an important foundation for upgrading healthcare quality while motivating localities to effectively pursue universal health insurance coverage.

To bring health insurance policies closer to the public, the provincial social security agency and its network of collection agents regularly step up grassroots communications. As an insurance collection agent at the Thanh An commune postal service point, Bùi Ngọc La routinely visits villages to provide counseling and encourage residents to enroll. Bùi Ngọc La shared that, adhering to Party and State guidelines on voluntary social insurance and health insurance, he travels to each locality every Saturday to advise households on their benefits. Through outreach campaigns, residents better understand the policy’s significance and choose contribution levels suited to their financial conditions.

Communication effectiveness is reflected in shifting public awareness. After receiving guidance from social security personnel, the family of Lò Văn Chung in Thanh An commune enrolled all members in health insurance. Lò Văn Chung shared that he previously thought insurance was only necessary when falling ill, but after hearing explanations of the benefits, he realized its practical value and purchased coverage for his entire family to ensure peace of mind.

Despite these achievements, implementing health insurance policies across the province encounters ongoing challenges, particularly because over 80% of participants belong to groups whose contributions are fully or partially subsidized by the state budget. Furthermore, a portion of the population lacks complete awareness of health insurance and only enrolls when medical needs arise. This reality demands that the social security sector and local authorities continue enhancing communication efficiency, upgrading treatment quality, and facilitating enrollment and policy retention to effectively ensure social welfare.