Research o­n the reality of health insurance for farmers in Hai Phong and Thai Binh

Nguyen Thi Thanh, Tran Mai Oanh,

Khuong Anh Tuan, Nguyen Phuong Hanh

Place of publication: Health strategy and policy institute

Year of publication: 2002

In order to meet the real needs of health care for people in the period of renovation, the policy of health socialization was issued in order to share the responsibility for health care to all the social sectors and organisations as well as individuals. Some policies have been issued to mobilize financial resources for health care... Before the Decree 299 of the council of ministers about health insurance, many localities piloted voluntary health insurance for farmers. However, this form of health insurance was not stable.

Objectives: to study the reality and the experience of the implementation of health insurance for farmer at some localities; to propose solutions for increasing the ability of rural people to participate in health insurance.

Methods: secondary data analysis, cross-sectional study and quick evaluation using semi-structured questionnaires. Place of study: Hai Phong, Thai Binh.

Results of the study showed that:

- The number of people participating in health insurance is increasing every year (in 1993 o­nly 5,4% of the population were covered, in 2001 - 14%); The income from health insurance accounts for about 50% of the government budget for health care.

-At the researched places: health insurance for farmers has been implemented since the first days of health insurance. The reasons for its unstability were: the lack of assistance from the government; insufficient awareness; inadequate rights and accessibility to health services; discrimination; lack of people's belief for health insurance; adverse selection; imbalance of the fund...

Suggestions: (1) It is necessary to have a single instruction document for the realization of voluntary health insurance. (2) Financial assistance from the state budget. (3) Strengthening communication for farmers. (4) Socialization of health insurance. (5)Appropriate distribution of the fund for health insurance for health levels; increasing the quality of health services and health staff.