Regulations on insurance and health care in effect in early December 2016

1. Conditions for health insurance coverage of medical procedures

Pursuant to the Circular No. 35/2016/TT-BYT, the health insurance fund shall cover medical procedures for which health insurance contributors are eligible on the following conditions:

+ The medical facility authorized the procedure(s);

+ The procedures have adhered to the professional processes approved;

+ The price of such insured procedures has been approved by competent authorities.

Moreover, the health insurance fund and patient shall not pay for medical procedures in these circumstances:

+ Medical procedures under another medical procedure whose pricing has included the expenses of the former;

+ Medical procedures whose resultant data is specified by the result or performance of another medical procedure

Circular No. 35/2016/TT-BYT takes effect as of December 01, 2016.

2. Health insurance for police officers’ medical examination and treatment

Such content is defined in the Circular No. 43/2016/TT-BCA on the provision of health insurance to commissioned and non-commissioned police officers.

Police officers, when undergoing insured medical examination and treatment as per regulations, shall be covered against:

- Expenses for physical rehabilitation, periodical pregnancy checkup and childbearing;

- Expenses for emergency transportation or technical transfer of the inpatient in the following circumstances:

+ Transfer from the district or equivalent level to a higher one;

+ Downward transfer to district or equivalent level in adherence to professional reappointment or assignment-related request;

+ Transfer in the same level.

- Excluded from medical insurance are the expenses for medicines, chemicals and medical materials licensed for sale in Vietnam and medical procedures on prescription.

Circular No. 43/2016/TT-BCA takes effect as of December 09, 2016.

3. Fifteen specialized departments in a district medical center

Promulgated on October 25, 2016, the Circular No. 37/2016/TT-BYT provides guidelines for the missions, authority and organizational structure of medical centers in districts, towns and provincial cities.

The organizational structure of a district medical center shall be composed of the following 15 specialized departments:

+ Department of disease and HIV/AIDS control;

+ Department of nutrition and public health care;

+ Department of Food safety;

+ Department of Reproductive health care;

+ Department of Medical examination/ General examination clinic;

+ Department of Emergency medicine;

+ Multi-specialization department (Odontology - Stomatology - Ophthalmology - Otorhinolaryngology)

+ Department of General internal medicine;

+ Department of General surgery;

+ Department of pediatrics;

+ Department of Traditional medicine and Rehabilitation;

+ Department of Pharmacy - Medical equipment;

+ Department of Infectious diseases;

+ Department of Infection control;

+ Department of Laboratory and Diagnostic imaging.

Circular No. 37/2016/TT-BYT takes effect as of December 10, 2016.

4. Pricing of educational orders in the absence of pricing norms

On October 17, 2016, the Ministry of Finance promulgated the Circular No. 152/2016/TT-BTC on the management and spending of subsidies on basic training and on courses of less than 03 months.

In order to attain thrift and efficiency, the following expenditures shall be taken into due account upon an agency's placement of educational orders in the absence of economic - technical norms:

+ Expenses for admission, opening and closing ceremonies, certification;

+ Expenses for written materials, office stationery, textbooks, training documents;

+ Remunerations for teachers and trainers engaged in basic training and courses of less than 3 months;

+ Expenses for ingredients, fuel and materials for training activities; classroom and teaching instrument rent, other expenses.

Circular No. 152/2016/TT-BTC takes effect as of December 04, 2016.