Through tight coordination between the Social Insurance agency and the health sector, participants’ rights are fully and timely guaranteed, alongside the synchronous deployment of numerous solutions to expand coverage toward universal health insurance.

On average, the Điện Biên provincial General Hospital receives and treats 450 to 500 patient turns daily, with about 80% to 90% being health insurance participants. To facilitate citizens, the hospital has accelerated the application of digital technology in management, operation, and patient service. Currently, people coming for medical examinations and treatment can complete admission procedures using chip-based citizen identity cards or the VNeID application.

Concurrently, the deployment of electronic medical records has created a significant shift in medical examination and treatment work. Previously, the process of receiving, monitoring, and transferring patients between departments and rooms required many paper records like medical profiles, test results, and scan films; today, all information is digitized and integrated into a shared data system. Thanks to this, the team of doctors and nurses can quickly look up and update information, contributing to upgrading treatment efficiency and reducing waiting times for patients.

“With the motto of placing the patient at the center, the Hospital always actively upgrades service quality, invests in modern equipment, and focuses on improving the spirit and attitude of service to bring peace of mind and trust to patients,” stated Trần Đức Nghĩa, PhD, MD, Deputy Director of the Điện Biên provincial General Hospital.

In reality, medical examination and treatment facilities increasingly promote their role in upgrading medical service quality and ensuring rights for health insurance participants. According to a report by the Điện Biên provincial Social Insurance, from the beginning of 2026 until now, medical facilities province-wide have provided health insurance examinations and treatments for over 299,000 turns of people, with a total payout of over VND 256 billion, an increase of 3.7% compared to the same period in 2025. Out of this, outpatient examinations and treatments reached over 251,000 turns of people with a payment of over VND 91 billion, while inpatient treatment stood at nearly 48,000 turns of people with an amount of more than VND 165 billion.

For a mountainous, border province like Điện Biên, health insurance plays an important role in executing social security policies and caring for public health. Therefore, the provincial Social Insurance always emphasizes expanding coverage and promptly bringing new regulations and policies into life to safeguard participants’ rights.

Under the new regulations, from July 1, 2026, the base salary is adjusted to VND 2.53 million per month, serving as the basis for calculating benefit levels and health insurance rights. Accordingly, participants enjoy 100% of medical examination and treatment costs if the cost for a single visit is lower than 15% of the base salary, equivalent to VND 379,500. Health insurance participants for 5 consecutive years or more will have 100% of costs within the covered scope paid by the health insurance fund when the co-payment amount within the year exceeds 6 times the base salary, equivalent to VND 15.18 million. For cases prescribed to undergo technical services, the health insurance fund pays for medical equipment costs for a single service use up to an amount not exceeding 45 months of base salary, equivalent to VND 113.85 million.

Adjusting benefit levels according to the new base salary helps elevate participants’ rights, creating conditions for people to access high-quality medical services and easing financial burdens in medical examinations and treatment.

“In recent times, many health insurance participants advised by me have had quite large treatment amounts paid by the insurance fund,” shared Trần Thị Nguyệt, a social insurance and health insurance collection agent in Thanh Nưa commune. “There was a case paid nearly VND 80 million, and many other cases were paid from over VND 20 million to VND 60 million, contributing significantly to reducing financial pressure on the patients’ families.”

Along with the benefits enjoyed, according to current regulations, public participation in household-based health insurance is facilitated to the maximum extent. Family members participating in health insurance receive premium deductions in order: the first person pays 4.5% of the base salary; the second person pays 70%; the third person pays 60%; the fourth person pays 50%; and from the fifth person onward, the payment is 40% of the first person’s premium. Citizens can choose to pay periodically every 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months at a time, paying directly at social insurance agencies, collection service organizations, or online through the National Public Service Portal, the Public Service Portal of Vietnam Social Insurance, and banking applications.

Cao Văn Long, Deputy Director of the Điện Biên provincial Social Insurance, stated: “In the coming time, the unit will focus on stepping up administrative procedure reform and applying information technology in health insurance management, while boosting dissemination and mobilization to expand health insurance coverage. Expanding coverage always goes hand in hand with safeguarding citizens’ rights during medical examinations and treatment, helping participants have their costs appraised and paid timely and rapidly, thereby contributing to the universal health insurance goal and sustainable community healthcare.”

Currently, the health insurance coverage rate in Điện Biên province reaches 98% of the population. On May 9, 2026, the Điện Biên provincial People’s Committee issued Decision No.959/QĐ-UBND regarding assigning health insurance coverage targets to 45 communes and wards for the 2026 - 2030 period. Accordingly, based on the province’s 2025 population scale of 667,417 people, the provincial People’s Committee assigned targets to expand health insurance participants with a gradually increasing roadmap each year, striving to achieve a 100% population coverage rate by 2030. The assignment of targets demonstrates Điện Biên province’s determination to realize the universal health insurance goal, ensure healthcare rights for citizens, and contribute to building a sustainable social security system.