Ho Chi Minh City Proposes Broader Health Insurance Support for Older People and Repeat Blood Donors

Ho Chi Minh City is considering a major expansion of its health insurance support, extending full subsidies to more older residents and adding frequent voluntary blood donors to the eligible groups.

The city currently pays 100% of health insurance contributions for residents aged 65 to under 75 who have permanent registration in the city and receive no other support. By July 31, 2026, the policy had provided insurance cards to 312,008 people. During the first seven months of the year, this group made 1.66 million health insurance-covered medical visits, costing the insurance fund about 1.495 trillion dong.

The Health Department says residents aged 60 to under 65 also qualify as older people under Vietnamese law but currently lack this support. The city has about 573,779 people in this age group, including 407,383 permanent residents and 166,396 temporary residents. Officials identified 195,918 permanent residents without health insurance who could receive assistance.

At the household contribution rate of 1.366 million dong per person per year from July 1, 2026, subsidizing that group would cost the city an estimated 267.6 billion dong annually. Extending the policy to all eligible people aged 60 to under 75 would cover an estimated 604,988 people and cost about 826.5 billion dong each year. The department says the expansion would improve access to care, reduce out-of-pocket costs and increase insurance coverage.

The draft also proposes full support for voluntary blood donors who have donated at least 20 times and continue donating at least twice a year. Eligible donors would receive a 12-month health insurance card, with further support available if they maintain the donation requirement. Initial estimates put the number of people who have donated at least 20 times at about 40,000, including roughly 7,500 who meet the continuing-donation condition.