J Korean Med Sci.  2015 Nov;30(Suppl 2):S134-S138. 10.3346/jkms.2015.30.S2.S134.

Patterns of Health Expenditures and Financial Protections in Vietnam 1992-2012

• Hoang VM
• Oh J
• Tran TA
• Tran TG
• Ha AD
• Luu NH
• Nguyen TK

• KMID: 2351150
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2015.30.S2.S134

Abstract

Health financing has been considered as an important building block of a health system and has a key role in promoting universal health coverage in the Vietnam. This paper aims to describe the pattern of health expenditure, including total health expenditure and composition of health expenditure, over the last two decades in Vietnam. The paper mainly uses the data from Vietnam National Health Account and Vietnam Living Standards Survey. We also included data from other relevant published literature, reports and statistics about health care expenditure in Vietnam. The per capita health expenditure in Vietnam increased from US$ 14 in 1995 to US$ 86 in 2012. The total health expenditure as a share of GDP also rose from 5.2% in 1995 to 6.9% in 2012. Public health expenditure as percentage of government expenditure rose from 7.4% in 1995 to nearly 10% in 2012. The coverage of health insurance went up from 10% in 1995 to 68.5% in 2012. However, health financing in Vietnam was depending on private expenditures (57.4% in 2012). As a result, the proportion of households with catastrophic expenditure in 2012 was 4.2%. The rate of impoverishment in 2012 was 2.5%. To ensure equity and efficient goal of health system, policy actions for containing the health care out-of-pocket payments and their poverty impacts are urgently needed in Vietnam.

Keyword

Health Financing; Health Expenditure; Out-of-pocket Household Payment; Vietnam

MeSH Terms

Developing Countries/*economics
Financing, Government/economics/trends
Health Expenditures/*statistics & numerical data/*trends
*Healthcare Financing
Insurance, Health/*economics/*trends
Vietnam/epidemiology

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Private health expenditure as share of total health expenditure in Vietnam 1995-2012. Note: Figures for 2012 are estimated ones.

Reference

1. Ministry of Health of Vietnam. Health Statistics Year Book 2008. Hanoi: Minstry of Health of Vietnam;2008.

2. Van Minh H, Kim Phuong NT, Saksena P, James CD, Xu K. Financial burden of household out-of pocket health expenditure in Vietnam: findings from the National Living Standard Survey 2002-2010. Soc Sci Med. 2013; 96:258–263.

3. Xu K, Evans DB, Kawabata K, Zeramdini R, Klavus J, Murray CJ. Household catastrophic health expenditure: a multicountry analysis. Lancet. 2003; 362:111–117.

4. World Health Organization. Everybody business : strengthening health systems to improve health outcomes: WHO's framework for action. Geneva: World Health Organization;2007.

5. World Health Organization. Health financing strategy in Asia - Pacific region (2010-2015). Geneva: World Health Organization;2009.

6. Ministry of Health of Vietnam, Health Partnership group. Join annual health review 2008: health financing in Vietnam. Hanoi: Minstry of Health of Vietnam;2008.

7. Somanathan A, Tandon A, Dao HL, Hurt KL, Fuenzalida-Puelma HL. Moving toward universal coverage of social health insurance in Vietnam: assessment and options. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications;2014.

8. Ministry of Health of Vietnam. National Health Accounts in Vietnam during 1998-2008 period. Hanoi: Ministry of Health of Vietnam;2010.

9. Lieberman SS, Wagstaff A. Health financing and delivery in Vietnam: the short- and medium-term policy agenda. Ha Noi: World Bank;2008.

10. van Doorslaer E, O'Donnell O, Rannan-Eliya RP, Somanathan A, Adhikari SR, Garg CC, Harbianto D, Herrin AN, Huq MN, Ibragimova S, et al. Effect of payments for health care on poverty estimates in 11 countries in Asia: an analysis of household survey data. Lancet. 2006; 368:1357–1364.

11. van Doorslaer E, O'Donnell O, Rannan-Eliya RP, Somanathan A, Adhikari SR, Garg CC, Harbianto D, Herrin AN, Huq MN, Ibragimova S, et al. Catastrophic payments for health care in Asia. Health Econ. 2007; 16:1159–1184.

12. World Health Organization. Distribution of health payments and catastrophic expenditures methodology. Geneva: World Health Organization;2005.