To:

- People's Committees of provinces and centrally affiliated cities;
- Health Departments of provinces and centrally affiliated cities;
- Health Departments affiliated to the Ministry of Health of Vietnam
- Health Authorities of Ministries/Central Authorities

After receiving feedback from several units and local authorities  on difficulties in implementing and paying the cost of SARS-CoV-2 tests via Real-time RT-PCR technique (Official Dispatch No. 2232/UBND-KGVX dated July 13, 2022 and Official Dispatch No. 2400/UBND-KGVX dated July 26, 2022 of the People’s Committee of Hanoi City; Official Dispatch No. 4991/SYT-KHTC dated July 22, 2022 of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; Official Dispatch No. 1811/SYT-TTr dated July 19, 2022 of the Health Department of Phu Yen province, and Official Dispatch No. 3069/SYT-KHTC dated August 22, 2022 of the Health Department of Hai Phong province), the Ministry of Health of Vietnam has the following suggestions:

1. The Ministry of Health of Vietnam has promulgated directive documents and professional guidelines on testing subjects in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic and the implementation of COVID-19 tests based on the actual situation and requirements of each local authority. The Ministry of Health of Vietnam requests units and local authorities to strictly implement the testing according to directives and guidelines of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam in a scientific and practical manner that is appropriate to the epidemic situation, avoiding exploits and waste.

2. The collection and payment of test costs shall be corrected according to each subject following regulations of laws on prices and guiding documents on the implementation of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, with the latest being Official Dispatch No. 1157/BYT-KHTC dated March 10, 2022 on the implementation of the price of SARS-CoV-2 testing services, in which:

2.1. In case of paying the cost of SARS-CoV-2 tests according to regulations of laws on medical services and health insurance and cases covered by the state budget according to the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (except for cases where SARS-CoV-2 tests are conducted in the community): Comply with regulations and guidelines of Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BYT dated February 18, 2022 of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam on the price of SARS-CoV-2 testing services (previously is Circular No. 16/2021/TT-BYT dated November 8, 2021 of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam).

2.2. In case of conducting SARS-CoV-2 tests in the community covered by the state budget and cases of conducting SARS-CoV-2 tests not prescribed in Clause 2.1 mentioned above covered by the state budget: Comply with forms of bidding, assigning tasks, and placing orders prescribed in Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government of Vietnam on assigning tasks, placing orders, or bidding for the provision of public products and services funded by the state budget’s recurrent expenditures.

Regarding COVID-19 testing services ordered by local authorities that are covered by the State Budget, People’s Committees of provinces or centrally affiliated cities shall stipulate the price according to their competence as prescribed in Clause 8 Article 1 of Decree NO. 149/2016/ND-CP dated November 11, 2016 of the Government of Vietnam; bases, methods, and the valuation order following regulations of laws on prices, regulations prescribed in Point b Clause 1 Article 8 of Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government of Vietnam.

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In case People’s Committees of provinces or centrally affiliated cities have temporarily paid the order price and signed the contract according to the temporary price, People's Committees of provinces or centrally affiliated cities shall decide on the order price to form a basis for payment and settlement of costs for SARS-CoV-2 testing service providers.

3. Regarding the application of economic and technical norms to the development of the price of COVID-19 testing service:

- The Ministry of Health of Vietnam has promulgated Decision No. 1436/QD-BYT dated March 4, 2021, Decision No. 4228/QD-BYT dated September 1, 2021, Decision No. 4686/QD-BYT dated October 5, 2021, and Decision No. 5160/QD-BYT dated November 8, 2021 on economic and technical norms of SARS-CoV-2 testing services as the basis for the Ministry of Health of Vietnam to promulgate the price of SARS-CoV-2 testing services in Circular No. 16/2021/TT-BYT dated November 8, 2021 which has been replaced by Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BYT dated February 18, 2022.

- People’s Committees of provinces and centrally affiliated cities shall, based on technical procedures and the actual implementation of services in their areas, issue, amend, and supplement economic and technical norms and cost norms (if any) that apply to public products or services to form a basis for the issuance of unit prices and prices of public products and services according to regulations prescribed in Point b Clause 2 Article 26 of Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP.

Attention: In case competent authorities approve the adjustment of economic and technical norms, the price of SARS-CoV-2 testing services, in cases of disease examination and treatment not included in the payment scope of the health insurance fund at public medical service facilities, stipulated by local authorities shall not be higher than the maximum price stipulated by the Ministry of Health of Vietnam in Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BYT dated February 18, 2022 (subjects applying regulations prescribed in Section 2 Article 3 of Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BYT).

4. Regarding voluntary or requested tests:

- Subjects of voluntary or requested tests: units and local authorities shall rely on the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, directives of the Government of Vietnam, the National Steering Committee of COVID-19 Prevention and Control, and the implementation of their epidemic prevention and control to conduct the implementation as per regulation.

- Regarding the price of testing services in this case: comply with current regulations on medical service prices. From September 28, 2021, the Ministry of Health of Vietnam has promulgated Official Dispatch No. 8157/BYT-KHTC requesting units to not implement on-demand service prices for COVID-19 tests; testers shall request the implementation according to the collection rate applying to subjects who do not pay health insurance premiums. 

5. People’s Committees of provinces and cities shall direct and increase the inspection and examination, strictly handle violations (if any), and prevent the situation of taking advantage of the epidemic to increase the price of medical services in general and COVID-19 testing services in particular of medical facilities in their areas and pay attention to continue the implementation of the following contents:

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- If medical facilities receive sponsorship and aid of testing kits and testing supplies from sources of support of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, organizations, or individuals, they shall exclude such costs when collecting and paying testing costs for each case.  If the mentioned units fail to exclude the costs due to the lack of prices of the sponsored supplies and testing kits and supplies, they may follow the "real-payment real-expenditure" scheme (actual costs of using supplies, chemicals, and related costs to perform tests).

- Non-public medical facilities eligible for conducting COVID-19 tests as per regulation shall not take advantage of the epidemic situation to increase the price of COVID-19 testing services while implementing decisions on the price, price declaration, and price listing in compliance with regulations.

Above are the suggestions of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam regarding several contents related to the payment of the price of SARS-CoV-2 tests and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam requests People’s Committees of provinces and cities to direct the implementation of such suggestions; Health Departments of provinces and cities, medical facilities, and Health Authorities of Ministries and Central Authorities to comply with regulations.

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MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Tran Thanh Thuan