Health insurance: “The golden ticket” of people living with HIV

Implementation of Circular No. 27/2018/TT-BYT dated October 26, 2018 of the Ministry of Health guiding the implementation of medical examination and treatment with health insurance related to HIV/AIDS and the guiding documents of the Vietnam Social Insurance, the provincial social insurance agency has cooperated with the Department of Health to guide the medical treatment facilities that are eligible to receive medical treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in the province. Thereby, the health insurance card has become a “golden ticket” accompanying HIV/AIDS patients during treatment and medical care.

Since May 2019, after the aid sources for HIV/AIDS prevention and control ended, the health insurance fund and a part of the province’s support funding have become the main source of payment for treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. That is, HIV patients do not receive free treatment according to aid channels anymore, but must buy health insurance cards in order for the health insurance fund to pay for treatment and medical expenses.

Youth union members march to propagate the benefits of ARV treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in Cao Loc town, Cao Loc district

According to statistics from the provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC) as of November 28, 2022, the province has 783 subjects on ART with information and management, of which 769 cases are being treated inside province, 14 cases were treated outside the province. In which, 755 cases have health insurance cards; 13 cases where patients serving sentences in prisons and detention camps are not allowed to exercise their citizenship rights such as having health insurance cards; 1 new case to buy health insurance card is not enough time. The percentage of HIV patients on ART who have health insurance cards by the end of November 2022 is 99.8% and will reach 100% by the end of December 2022 (when new cases have enough time to issue health insurance cards), an increase of 2% compared to 2021.

In order to achieve this result is the efforts in communication and mobilization of the staff of the health sector, the social insurance sector at the same level as the Party Committee, authorities, and mass organizations in the areas where people living with HIV/AIDS have been infected in recent years. Doctor Hoang Thi Dang, Head of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, Provincial CDC said: In 2021, the whole province has 5 HIV-infected people who have not bought health insurance cards, these cases mainly live in Lang Son city. By 2022, basically HIV patients participating in ARV therapy will already have health insurance cards. Through propaganda about the benefits of payment from the health insurance fund, the majority of HIV-infected patients have clearly understood their rights in receiving ARVs for daily treatment, medical healthcare and do tests for other opportunistic infections. Especially in the context that drug prices have increased compared to the previous year. If in 2021, the health insurance fund to pay for medical treatment is about 250,000 VND/person/month, in 2022, the average payment for medical treatment will be 300,000 VND/person/month.

The ARV treatment is a continuous and lifelong treatment solution. If people with HIV do not participate in health insurance, they will have to pay an expense of nearly 4 million VND/year. Mr. Nong Van Hoan, Deputy Director of Provincial Social Insurance said: Through the synthesis from May 2019 to November 2022, the province has over 24,000 cases of HIV/AIDS patients going to medical care covered by the Health Insurance Fund with a total payment of about  6.6 billion VND. Particularly from the beginning of 2022 until now, medical facilities have treated 6,115 HIV patients, with an amount of nearly 2 billion VND. In which, one patient has medical care costs of over 111 million VND, the remaining average is about 20-30 million VND depending on the severity of the HIV patient’s condition.

Mr. N.V.A, Cao Loc town, Cao Loc district shared: Thanks to participating in health insurance, my taking ARV drugs is done regularly and continuously. In addition, when I am sick, I have to go to the hospital for testing or medical treatment, and I am hospitalized for treatment, I am paid by the health insurance fund.

It can be seen that, when sick, going to the hospital, every patient faces a financial burden if they do not have a health insurance card, it will be even more difficult for people living with HIV/AIDS. The effective implementation of communication and propaganda for HIV patients to buy health insurance cards has achieved practical results and should continue to be maintained so that the health insurance card becomes a companion to share difficulties with HIV patients, thereby, helping them get stable treatment and integrate into the community.

ARVs are antiretroviral drugs that reduce the reproduction of HIV in the body. ARV drugs have been widely used in Vietnam since 2004, evaluated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an effective solution to protect the health of people living with HIV/AIDS, help to control the outbreak of the pandemic. When people living with HIV receive antiretroviral therapy, they can restore their health, continue to live, study and work, reducing the economic burden on families and the health sector in treatment and prevention activities.