Around 13,000 individuals in Vietnam were recorded to have undergone medical check-ups more than 50 times each in the first 10 months of 2017, pointing to widespread abuse of the country’s health insurance system.
The check-ups cost the system VND645 billion (US$28.3 million).
Dương Đức Tuấn, director of the Northern Centre for Health Insurance and Multidisciplinary Payment, told
Viet Nam News that health insurance abuse increases costs and can create negative consequences for the entire system.
Tuấn gave the example of a 53-year-old woman who underwent 231 medical examinations at over 10 different hospitals from January to October, incurring costs of VND129 million (US$5,680).
“She went to hospital almost every day. On some days, she had two to three check-ups at different hospitals,” Tuấn said, adding that some individuals have incurred up to 200 check-ups in this calendar year.
“Some people consider undergoing check-ups paid by the health insurance fund their ‘job’. We are conducting investigations into these cases,” Tuấn said.
In September, a patient in Ho Chi Minh was fined VND9 million (US$400) after they were found guilty of abusing the health insurance fund.
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