Health insurance has been a focus for the Party and State for years. Thanks to the implementation of special health insurance policies for ethnic minority groups in remote areas, quality of medical check-ups and treatment as well as health management works in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang have improved significantly.

As a chronic hypertension patient, Hoang Thi Thanh has to go to the local commune’s medical station for regular check-ups and treatment. If any abnormalities are found she will be transferred to a higher level hospital without paying any extra fees.

Hoàng Thị Thanh, a resident in Dai Tien commune, Hoa An district, Cao Bang province said: "I can receive several medical check-ups here such as ultrasound scan, heart and lung checkups, if I have to take any medicine, the doctors here will give me it  for free".

All local Nung ethnic minority people benefit from the State’s free health insurance policies.

Hoang Thi Din, a resident in Dai Tien commune, Hoa An district, Cao Bang province told reporters: "I come here for medical check-ups regularly; I also receive free medicine. I only have to buy medicine if the medical station doesn’t have that medicine".

The medical station in Dai Tien commune, Hoa An district, Cao Bang province receives about nearly 30 patients for medical check-ups and treatment daily. Besides chronic diseases, the station also monitors the reproductive health of local people.

Thank to the special health insurance policy, medical check-ups and health treatment in the locality have improved significantly. Each year, the social insurance sector cooperates with health units to ensure the rights and benefits of about 750,000 health insurance participants 

According to Nguyen Van Le, Deputy Director of Cao Bang Health Department, Cao Bang is a mountainous province but the number of people participating health insurance is very high, up to 96 percent. Therefore we have paid special attention to improving medical check-up and treatment quality.

In the future, the province will improve the quality of medical check-ups and treatment, and administrative procedures reform  as well as applying information technology in health insurance management and payment to help more patient receive quality medical check-ups and treatment.-VNA

VNA