Hanoi-Vietnam: Severe penalties may be imposed for using health insurance cards of others to receive healthcare

Hanoi-Vietnam: Severe penalties may be imposed for using health insurance cards of others to receive healthcare (illustrative image)

Under Article 84 of Decree 117/2020/ND-CP, violations related to the use of health insurance cards in receiving healthcare will be subject to the following penalties:

1. Monetary Fines

For actions involving lending one's health insurance card to another person or using someone else's health insurance card for receiving healthcare, monetary fines will be imposed as follows:

• From 1,000,000 VND to 2,000,000 VND for violations that do not cause financial damage to the health insurance fund;
• From 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND for violations that cause financial damage to the health insurance fund.

2. Remedial measures

In addition to fines, individuals who lend their health insurance card or use another person’s health insurance card for medical purposes are required to repay the amount violated back to the health insurance fund account (if any) in case of violations that cause damage to the health insurance fund.

Current Regulations:

According to Clause 2, Article 65 of Decree 176/2013/ND-CP, the penalties for violations involving the use of health insurance cards for receiving healthcare are as follows:

- Fines are imposed as follows:

• From 500,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND for violations that do not cause financial damage to the health insurance fund;
• From 1,000,000 VND to 2,000,000 VND for violations that cause financial damage to the health insurance fund.

- Remedial measures:

• Individuals are required to refund the amount paid by the health insurance fund to the fund's account for violations that cause damage to the health insurance fund;
• Individuals using a health insurance card are required to refund all receiving healthcare costs paid by the health insurance fund to the fund's account for violations that cause damage to the health insurance fund.

Thus, from November 15, 2020, Decree 117/2020/ND-CP will officially take effect. The fines for lending or using someone else's health insurance card will be increased to a maximum fine of 2,000,000 VND for violations that do not cause financial damage to the health insurance fund; and a maximum fine of 5,000,000 VND for violations that cause financial damage to the health insurance fund. Naturally, violators are required to repay the amount paid by health insurance due to not being entitled to regulations.

Increasing the fines for borrowing or lending health insurance cards will help prevent this behavior from recurring in practice because the policy of health insurance aims to cover part or all of the receiving healthcare costs based on the premise that the patient has participated in health insurance contributions according to the regulations.

Thuy Tram

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