Although so far Viet Nam did not experience a Covid-19 “health” crisis as the rest of the World, it has suffered from the social and economic impact of the global pandemic. The economic slow-down has translated into reduced availability of work opportunities, for a working-age population that is still growing on a year-on-year basis. In 2020 as a whole, a total of 32.1 million people aged 15 and over nationwide were negatively affected by the COVID-19 in the forms of unemployment, staggered working hours, income decrease and working hour decrease among others.
Loss of jobs and/or losses of income may directly affect access to health insurance, at a time where access to quality of care without risk of impoverishment is more than ever needed. For that reason, Viet Nam Social Security and the P4H focal point, through the ILO, are conducted an analysis to identify the current and possible future impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the level of coverage so to anticipate risks on membership drops, financial protection and HI financial sustainability. This preliminary analysis is expected to inform the Government’s Covid-19 policy response for a stronger shock-responsive system, as well as to guide decisions making in the framework of the on-going revision of the Health Insurance law, which is supported by the P4H.
