Urgent help with Vietnamese Health system please

I had similar problem in Hanoi the insurance company decided not to cover at their discression difficult to argue from a distance in hospital so ended up paying. On the plus side treatment here is much cheaper than back home.good luck

Thanks, but I'm very keen to know if he was given accurate information about his entitlement. This health cover is provided by the government, rather than a private insurer. He has no money for private health insurance so has to rely on what he has been given by his school.

Quick work of advice, insurance cards are for specific hospitals, he can only go to the one on his card (looks like he went to the one he was covered but I cant tell since I dont use social insurance). The insurance is shit honestly and most expats who are business people carry secondary. Aetna has insurance you can use anywhere and its like $2000 a year.
I would have a vietnamese friend go to the hospital with your son and talk to them. You may not "win" but might get a discount.

Thanks for your helpful advice and reply. Given this situation, private insure is definitely something he will look into but it's going to be some months until he has funds. For now, we'd very much like to get a clear view of what his card entitles him to in terms of care. Thanks again.

Vietnamese hospitals sometimes exclude themselves from the social healthcare scheme. This can happen any time without warning.

My company usually emails staff with updated eligible hospitals and we choose which best suits us. His company should be doing this too.

There is probably nothing that can be done to get his money back but he should definitely ask his employer to give him a new card at an eligible hospital ASAP
Public healthcare isn't the best here but it's very affordable.
All the best to you and your son.

Hello there,
Sorry to hear of your son recent mishap in VN.  The response your son received from the hospital was halfway accurate and I think they withheld some important info which made it sounds like your son didn't have the correct paperwork so he must pay on his own.  According to a Vnmese newspaper the Vietnamese social insurance system is issuing a new social insurance card to the people and it is in effect beginning on April 1, 2021.  No change in the insurance coverage mentioned.  Just new card! Please use google translate to read this news article by following this attached link: https://thuvienphapluat.vn/tintuc/vn/th … hu-the-nao
Individuals with old cards that are not yet expired are still able to use them as before.  So, what the hospital staff told your son was true in that there is a new card but they didnot tell your son that his old card is still good for use. Your son's school should be able to clarify this and provides assistance to your son or at least send an interpreter to the hospital with your son.  The hospital staff know your son doesn't speak Vnmese so they think of "ATM machine" !
Foreigners have lots of money and they do get pay a lot higher salary scale than their Vietnamese counterparts,  so the general consensus is foreigners can afford all the costs more than the Vnmese...
Hope this info help.

Big thanks for both replies! They are enormously helpful. I have just emailed the info to my son and will ask him to investigate with his employer. Kind regards, Finlay

The vietnam government health insurance has little to offer foreigners, at least that was my experience a few years ago. Another reply was correct, the only silver lining is health care in vietnam is super inexpensive, for often very good health care. Yet another problem with the government health care is it only pays for government run hospitals. Read: little to no English. So you will have to pay more for a private hospital, but for still reasonable prices. My fav hospital in hcmc is Vinmec. Shame the school failed to tell your son this, but typical.

ebxebx2 wrote:

The vietnam government health insurance has little to offer foreigners, at least that was my experience a few years ago. Another reply was correct, the only silver lining is health care in vietnam is super inexpensive, for often very good health care. Yet another problem with the government health care is it only pays for government run hospitals. Read: little to no English. So you will have to pay more for a private hospital, but for still reasonable prices. My fav hospital in hcmc is Vinmec. Shame the school failed to tell your son this, but typical.

Thanks for that! I've passed that on. Kind regards.

True that little English is spoken in gov hospitals, however The Doctors are still very qualified and kind. We need to remember where we are and English is not the main language. The main one on Le loi D1 has English speaking staff and I e had good experiences there.

It's perhaps worth noting that FV hospital in D7 despite being a private hospital also offers treatment at a fraction of the cost in the west.

Personally I've had emergency  surgery and an ICU stay in both and the treatment has been excellent.

Feel free to contact me if your son or anyone needs assistance with attending a health appointment

Tippers wrote:

True that little English is spoken in gov hospitals, however The Doctors are still very qualified and kind. We need to remember where we are and English is not the main language. The main one on Le loi D1 has English speaking staff and I e had good experiences there.

It's perhaps worth noting that FV hospital in D7 despite being a private hospital also offers treatment at a fraction of the cost in the west.

Personally I've had emergency  surgery and an ICU stay in both and the treatment has been excellent.

Feel free to contact me if your son or anyone needs assistance with attending a health appointment

What hospital is on Le Loi in D1?

Bệnh Viện đa Khoa Sái Gòn. Also Cho Ray Hospital is excellent.

Cho Ray is the only public hospita I know of that regularly accepts foreigners. They have a small department that will help with the language barrier. Still, i found the limited english skills of the doctors to cause some difficulty. But if you are a foreigner on a very limited budget, it is certainly wirth a try. Be prepared for crowded conditions.

I should mention that if your son intends to live in vietnam for a long time, he should seriously consider learning basic vietnamese. It made a huge difference for me.

FinlayFinlayson wrote:

ebxebx2 wrote:

The vietnam government health insurance has little to offer foreigners, at least that was my experience a few years ago. Another reply was correct, the only silver lining is health care in vietnam is super inexpensive, for often very good health care. Yet another problem with the government health care is it only pays for government run hospitals. Read: little to no English. So you will have to pay more for a private hospital, but for still reasonable prices. My fav hospital in hcmc is Vinmec. Shame the school failed to tell your son this, but typical.

Thanks for that! I've passed that on. Kind regards.

If it's an orthopaedic doctor (surgeon) I recommend Dr nguyen Xuan Anh. He has a private clinic and he also has a clinic on certain days of the week at Victoria HealthCare.

If your son needs surgery I don't recommend Vinmec in Saigon. I also was in a road traffic accident in January this year. Broke my Humerus. Dr Khoan of Vinmec did the surgery. A few complications. I had second opinion from doctor in UK, who told me that the screws fitted to join my bone and plate are too close to the humeral head, so they may protrude from head at some point, which means another surgery to remove the two offending screws.

Also, I have a deformity on the operated arm. I sent Dr khoan a picture showing the deformity (varus). He told me 'more exercise' to stop muscle atrophy. When I asked him to explain how muscle atrophy is related to alignment. he said its not related.

Asked him 'if cubitus varus will last forever'. he said not forever.

Later I asked him again if more exercise will fix the varus, he then said he only fixed my humerus and not my elbow. I've had a second opinion on this and had confirmation that the varus is due to the rotational malalignment of the humerus. theres been other inconsistencies with Dr Khoan's replies. TOo many to mention here.

SO before allowing any surgeon near your son, do the research on them. If you cannot see anything or don't have a recommendation, be wary. In vietnam, I bet some doctors become doctors just to keep appearances (because father was a doctor, son also must become doctor - you will sometimes see father and son combined clinics). Not on merit or aptitude. I bet graft is involved sometimes.

I am now doing physiotherapy at FV hospital. In comparison to Vinmec they are more efficient. At vinmec, my bed height wasn't adjusted for four days (out of the six days) I was there. the seniour nurse who finally adjusted it after asking (junior nurse was unable to adjust) seemed somewhat annoyed she had to do it.

emails have gone unanswered. Even email requesting follow-up appointment.

Note that with orthopaedic procedures like mine it is recommended that the same surgeon that performed the original surgery do any follow-up. Not sure if this applies to your son. If it does, it's best to pick the best surgeon to begin with.

I would even go as far as to recommend Dr Phat as FV hospital (I've had a consultation with him once) ahead of Dr Khoan. I've only seen one bad review about Dr Phat, but that was a surgery to do with the reconstruction of hand.

sanooku wrote:

FinlayFinlayson wrote:

ebxebx2 wrote:

The vietnam government health insurance has little to offer foreigners, at least that was my experience a few years ago. Another reply was correct, the only silver lining is health care in vietnam is super inexpensive, for often very good health care. Yet another problem with the government health care is it only pays for government run hospitals. Read: little to no English. So you will have to pay more for a private hospital, but for still reasonable prices. My fav hospital in hcmc is Vinmec. Shame the school failed to tell your son this, but typical.

Thanks for that! I've passed that on. Kind regards.

If it's an orthopaedic doctor (surgeon) I recommend Dr nguyen Xuan Anh. He has a private clinic and he also has a clinic on certain days of the week at Victoria HealthCare.

If your son needs surgery I don't recommend Vinmec in Saigon. I also was in a road traffic accident in January this year. Broke my Humerus. Dr Khoan of Vinmec did the surgery. A few complications. I had second opinion from doctor in UK, who told me that the screws fitted to join my bone and plate are too close to the humeral head, so they may protrude from head at some point, which means another surgery to remove the two offending screws.

Also, I have a deformity on the operated arm. I sent Dr khoan a picture showing the deformity (varus). He told me 'more exercise' to stop muscle atrophy. When I asked him to explain how muscle atrophy is related to alignment. he said its not related.

Asked him 'if cubitus varus will last forever'. he said not forever.

Later I asked him again if more exercise will fix the varus, he then said he only fixed my humerus and not my elbow. I've had a second opinion on this and had confirmation that the varus is due to the rotational malalignment of the humerus. theres been other inconsistencies with Dr Khoan's replies. TOo many to mention here.

SO before allowing any surgeon near your son, do the research on them. If you cannot see anything or don't have a recommendation, be wary. In vietnam, I bet some doctors become doctors just to keep appearances (because father was a doctor, son also must become doctor - you will sometimes see father and son combined clinics). Not on merit or aptitude. I bet graft is involved sometimes.

I am now doing physiotherapy at FV hospital. In comparison to Vinmec they are more efficient. At vinmec, my bed height wasn't adjusted for four days (out of the six days) I was there. the seniour nurse who finally adjusted it after asking (junior nurse was unable to adjust) seemed somewhat annoyed she had to do it.

emails have gone unanswered. Even email requesting follow-up appointment.

Note that with orthopaedic procedures like mine it is recommended that the same surgeon that performed the original surgery do any follow-up. Not sure if this applies to your son. If it does, it's best to pick the best surgeon to begin with.

I would even go as far as to recommend Dr Phat as FV hospital (I've had a consultation with him once) ahead of Dr Khoan. I've only seen one bad review about Dr Phat, but that was a surgery to do with the reconstruction of hand.

I'm so glad you posted this.

Again...