Amendments to regulations on payment of patient transportation costs in Vietnam

Amendments to regulations on payment of patient transportation costs in Vietnam

Decree 02/2025/ND-CP amends and supplements Clause 1, Article 26 of Decree 146/2018/ND-CP related to patient transportation costs.

This Decree apply to health insurance participants belonging to the categories specified in Clauses 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 11 of Article 3 of Decree 146/2018/ND-CP in cases of emergency or inpatient treatment who must transfer medical examination and treatment facilities as prescribed in Article 27 of the Health Insurance Law.

(Previously, in Clause 1, Article 26 of Decree 146/2018/ND-CP, it was stipulated that health insurance participants belonging to the categories specified in Clauses 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 11 of Article 3 of this Decree, in cases of emergency or inpatient treatment, must transfer technical expertise from a district-level medical examination and treatment facility to a higher level, including:

- From district to provincial level;

- From district to central level).

Regarding the payment level of transportation costs:

- In cases where transportation means of the referring medical examination, treatment facility are used, the health insurance fund shall cover the round-trip transportation costs for that facility at a rate equal to 0.2 liters of gasoline/km calculated based on the actual distance between the two facilities and the gasoline price at the time of patient transfer. If there is more than one patient being transported in a single vehicle, the payment level is still calculated as for transporting one patient. The receiving medical examination and treatment facility must sign confirmation on the transfer vehicle form of the referring facility; if outside office hours, a doctor's signature receiving the patient is required;

- In cases where the transportation means of the medical examination and treatment facility are not used, the health insurance fund shall cover the one-way (outbound) transportation cost for the patient at a rate equal to 0.2 liters of gasoline/km calculated based on the actual distance between the two facilities and the gasoline price at the time of the patient transfer to a higher level. The referring medical facility is responsible for paying this cost directly to the patient before transfer, then settling with the social insurance agency.

Decree 02/2025/ND-CP takes effect from January 1, 2025.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE