Vietnam Health Insurance to Pay 50% of Outpatient Costs at Central Hospitals from July 1

From 1 July 2026, Vietnam’s health‑insurance fund (BHYT) will cover half of the reimbursable amount for outpatient (trái tuyến) services provided at designated central (trung ương) hospitals that are classified as basic‑level facilities. The rule is set out in Decree 188/2025 and applies to patients whose insurance benefit rates are 80 %, 95 % or 100 %; the payment is calculated as cost × benefit rate × 50 % (e.g., an 80 % beneficiary paying 1 million VND will receive 400 000 VND from BHYT). A list of participating hospitals includes Hữu Nghị and the Central Institute of Psychiatry in Hanoi, Central Psychiatric Hospital II and the Central Institute of Psychiatry Biên Hòa in Đồng Nai, Hospital 71 and the Central Rehabilitation Hospital in Thanh Hóa, as well as facilities in Hue, Quảng Bình, Gia Lai, Phú Thọ, Nghệ An, Hải Phòng, Quảng Nam and others.

The decree also introduces supplementary provisions: services costing less than 15 % of the base salary are reimbursed at 100 %; participants with five continuous years of coverage receive full payment once annual out‑of‑pocket spending exceeds six times the base salary; and equipment fees for a single technical service may be reimbursed up to 45 months of the base salary. The changes aim to lower out‑of‑pocket expenses, improve access to high‑quality care, and reduce the financial burden on patients.