Vietnamese Health Insurance

No

Why not buy  health insurance in Australia before you leave? There are a few options and you can choose a package to suit your needs/budget. There are pamphlets in the Vietnamese travel agents. Or Google,

Look at this site for Insurance. It comes highly recommended.

www(dot)worldnomads(dot)com

GladGlen wrote:

Greetings from a new member.  I am going to Vietnam in a month for about a year and was wondering if it's necessary to get health insurance - I've heard most medical costs are very reasonable there. I will be based first in Hoi An and then in Ha Noi and thought I would get just a month or two of travel insurance from here to tie me over. Do you have to be living permanently in Vietnam to buy their health insurance?  Thanking you in advance.

Do a health physical with your doctor first and check all your systems before you go.  If you're young and get a clean bill of health, then it isn't necessary to get health insurance. 

One, because Việt Nam is a cash economy and any hospital will take cash.  Two, doctor's offices won't have a clue how to file a claim to an out-of-country insurance company.  Three, you'll be limited to just foreign hospitals in large cities if you have out-of-country health insurance.  Four, there is a large percentage of the medical community that uses "Oriental" medicine that I'm sure most health insurance policies won't cover.

I believe you have to be a Vietnamese citizen to buy into the national insurance program - not 100% sure on this.  But most national programs require the national ID card and the red residence book.

I concur with everything THD has written above; as always, very sensible advice.  If you are particularly concerned about a potential major health issue arising during the year, there is a global insurer who has a special rate for Southeast Asian residents which will cover hospitalization, evacuation, etc.   PM me for details.

"If you're young and get a clean bill of health, then it isn't necessary to get health insurance."

People get health insurance incase of accidents and to cover/lower the cost for hospital stays, procedures, medications, etc etc

cth wrote:

"If you're young and get a clean bill of health, then it isn't necessary to get health insurance."

People get health insurance incase of accidents and to cover/lower the cost for hospital stays, procedures, medications, etc etc

Of course, that's why you have to weigh the costs of the insurance to the outright cash cost of your hospital stay.  If you're young and have a clean bill of health, the chances of you getting into a catastrophic accident is minimal. 

In Việt Nam in particular if you, say are riding a bus through the countryside and it has an accident where you are needed to be rushed to the ER at the local hospital, the insurance would be meaningless to you and you'd end up paying cash anyhow.  I suppose you could say that some insurance has reimbursements but I'm sure due to fraud, these companies make it so burdensome to you to prove that you did have an operation in the ER at such and such place.

Ultimately it's up to the OP to buy insurance or not, but I would recommend the cash system.

charmavietnam wrote:

No

Was that you answer to this question?

GladGlen wrote:

...Do you have to be living permanently in Vietnam to buy their health insurance?  ....

I read "their health insurance" to mean the national health insurance of Việt Nam since Australians have a national universal healthcare system, Medicare.

If that's your answer, then are you saying you can buy the national health insurance of Việt Nam if you are not a Vietnamese citizen?  Go to any hospital and get 80% off?

I carry regional heath insurance through Liberty - office in Kumho Centre HCMC- at about 40-60% less than comparative civer done in Australia or Singapore. it covers International SOS in case of trauma/emergency. Worth a look.

Thank so much everyone for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated and very helpful, THD especially - just what I want to know and hear. I do not over insure (ever on anything) and I don't live in fear and I am healthy and I put alternate medicine before drugs and hospitals any time so I'm especially interested in the traditional Vietnamese medicine, something I'm very keen to explore whilst there. I'm trying not to buy in Australia as with nearly everything, this is such an expensive country now and I would prefer to give my money to the country where I'm going to be spending the next 12 months volunteering.
Again, many thanks.