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If you’re moving to Vietnam, it’s important to think about how you will access healthcare. Our guide will tell you what you need to know about receiving treatment in Vietnam, and how international health insurance can benefit you.
We’ll cover:
Megan Lewis
Senior Business Development Manager (Broker) & Technical Specialist
The healthcare system in Vietnam is divided into the public and private health sectors. Most hospitals operate autonomously, deriving their funding from out-of-pocket spending by patients. As an expat, you will be entitled to receive healthcare from both the public and private sector, but you will be expected to pay for your treatment. The cost of private healthcare is of a much higher quality, but also comes with a bigger price tag, which is why many expats opt for private health insurance.
There are over 300 private hospitals in Vietnam, plus thousands of private healthcare clinics. These institutions are mostly found in metropolitan cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Private institutions account for roughly 6% of all hospital beds in Vietnam.
These hospitals are mainly marketed towards wealthy foreigners. As such, they offer a higher standard of healthcare and are more likely to employ medical professionals who are fluent in English, French, Japanese and other foreign languages.
By opting for private healthcare in Vietnam, patients can expect shorter waiting lists, improved patient outcomes and better access to advanced medical procedures such as dental care, diagnostic screening and imaging services.
The standard of public healthcare in Vietnam is improving rapidly as the government contributes an ever-higher share of GDP to healthcare spending. The country has made great strides over the last decade as it seeks to achieve universal healthcare, and was recently ranked 44th best in the world by the Legatum Prosperity Index. Public hospitals are particularly focused on upgrading their facilities and providing new departments for specialist treatments.
However, with the healthcare sector still undergoing modernisation, the quality of treatment remains poor across Vietnam. Most hospitals have outdated equipment and IT infrastructure, which drives down the quality of healthcare services and causes long waiting lists. For this reason, Vietnam ranks low in many global healthcare indices.
Also, like many other developing countries, Vietnam experiences an urban-rural divide in healthcare. This means the quality of hospitals in rural areas is much lower than in major cities. As such, overcrowding is common in Vietnamese hospitals. This is especially true in the major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which regularly operate at 200% normal capacity while providing care for up to 60% of the country’s population.
Yes, expats are entitled to healthcare in both public and private sector hospitals across Vietnam. However, you will be expected to pay for your own treatment in both cases. The cost of private sector healthcare can be considerably more expensive, which is why you may wish to consider choosing a health insurance policy. Many private sector hospitals will ask to see proof of your medical insurance before accepting you as a patient.
You are not required by law to take out health insurance in Vietnam and you do not need to show proof of health insurance to secure a visa. Therefore, you can choose to live without health insurance if you wish. You will still be entitled to use public and private sector hospitals, however you will need to pay medical expenses out of your own pocket. Since this can be very expensive, some private hospitals may refuse to treat you if you cannot show proof of insurance.
If you do not want to take out health insurance, and if your pockets are deep enough, you may wish to fund the cost of your healthcare from your personal savings. This should allow you to access many private sector healthcare facilities as and when you need them, so long as you can prove you will be able to pay your bills. You may still risk being turned away by some institutions if they insist on proof of valid medical insurance, or if the cost of treatment is greater than you can afford.
While living in Vietnam, you will find many local health insurance providers. These companies will grant you access to private medical care in return for a yearly premium. Your insurance may be limited to one hospital or one healthcare network, and you may be subject to certain sublimits (the maximum amount you can spend in one year). You may also not be covered overseas, meaning you will only be able to access treatment in Vietnam, and you may not enjoy added benefits such as medical evacuation insurance.
Some companies, like William Russell, offer global health insurance, which includes cover in Vietnam. With international health insurance, you can enjoy access to private medical care across a wide network that extends not just across Vietnam, but throughout the world. Your international health insurance provider can offer customer service in English, with flexible policies that provide a high standard of cover. At William Russell, all our international health insurance policies include medical evacuation insurance as standard.
Let’s explore the key differences between international health insurance, a local health insurance, relying on the public healthcare system, and self-insurance.
International health insurance
Local health insurance
Relying on public healthcare
Self-insurance
The public healthcare system in Vietnam is improving rapidly.
However, there is still a long way to go. While the government has increased spending on healthcare, the quality of services and treatments is still far behind more advanced nations. Many hospitals lack advanced equipment and have trouble recruiting highly-trained professionals. They also frequently experience overcrowding.
For now, Vietnam ranks low in the world across several key healthcare metrics.
Source: World Bank / Worldometer
While the Vietnamese government is making great strides towards introducing universal healthcare, patients are currently expected to pay for the cost of their treatments. This is true at both private and public hospitals. The cost of healthcare will depend on many factors, including the type of treatments and procedures you need, whether you can be treated as an inpatient or an outpatient, and whether or not you need emergency treatment.
While Vietnam has made significant progress towards achieving universal healthcare, the country is still not quite there. This means that while state hospitals receive 80% of their funding from the government, they rely on individual patient contributions to make up the shortfall.
Treatment at public hospitals is relatively inexpensive – you should only expect to pay a few dollars for treatment – but if you stay overnight or go in for a more complex treatment, you may not know the full cost until you are discharged. It is also important to remember that, unless you have both a work and residency permit, you may not be eligible for state health insurance in Vietnam.
The cost of private healthcare in Vietnam will depend on several factors, including the types of procedures you require, the length of your stay and the medication you receive.
A 24-hour stay at a private hospital in Hanoi will typically start from around 20 million dong (US$800), with surgical procedures costing upwards of 150 million dong (US$6,000).
To use Hanoi French Hospital as an example, a single room starts from 10,500,000 dong/US$415 per night. A consultation with a general practitioner costs 1,500,000 dong/US$60. The costs of individual treatments such as these may then be added on top:
Source: www.hfh.com.vn
It is not a legal requirement for expats to have health insurance in order to live in Vietnam, but it is widely recommended. The British Foreign Office advises all visitors and expats in Vietnam to have appropriate medical insurance including medical evacuation cover.
If you wish to seek private medical care in Vietnam, many hospitals will ask you for proof of insurance before accepting you as a patient. This is to ensure you have the means to pay your bill. You may still be able to access private healthcare without insurance, so long as you can demonstrate you have the means to pay.
At William Russell, we’ve provided health insurance to expats around the globe, including in Vietnam, for over 30 years. In that time, we’ve worked with a number of different medical providers and expats to understand the common issues people living in Vietnam face. Here are the main benefits that – in our experience – expats look for when choosing health insurance in Vietnam.
While Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City offer a number of excellent private medical facilities, expats still find options limited for complex illnesses such as stroke and dementia, and for maternity care and cancer treatment.
Many prefer to travel to other parts of South East Asia for treatment, such as Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Of the top 50 hospitals in South East Asia, 22 are in Thailand, 17 are in Singapore and 6 are in Malaysia (in contrast, only 2 are in Vietnam).
Expats who value the quality of their healthcare would benefit from an international health insurance policy that covers the entire South East Asian region – especially since the cost of healthcare in countries like Singapore can be exceptionally high.
With William Russell, you can choose from a few different coverage zones, which can help you reduce your premium.
The quality of healthcare drops significantly outside the major cities in Vietnam. In rural or jungle areas, treatment options are limited, with provincial hospitals offering a very low standard of care. Language barriers also exist, and finding English or French-speaking doctors can be difficult.
Expats should strongly consider medical evacuation insurance. At William Russell, all our international health insurance plans include full cover for emergency medical evacuation as standard. If you suffer a life-threatening or limb-threatening condition that requires urgent inpatient treatment that cannot be provided locally, we’ll arrange your evacuation to the nearest suitable, high-quality medical facility.
We also cover the cost of your hospital stay, any costs associated with your treatment, transport costs of a companion and subsequent accommodation for them for up to 15 nights.
Expats in Vietnam prefer not to pay from their own pocket for outpatient treatment such as doctor consultations or physiotherapy. Instead, they prefer to flash their insurance membership card and have their insurance provider pay the bill directly to the clinic.
We call this service cashless access to outpatient treatment, though other providers may have a different name for it (‘direct billing’, ‘flash-the-card’).
Cashless access lets you receive outpatient treatment (e.g. a doctor visit, a specialist consultation) without paying for it from your own pocket. Instead, the clinic where you receive the treatment sends us the bill.
It’s available on all plans except Bronze (see below for information about our plans).
At William Russell, we’ve been providing private international health insurance to expats in Vietnam and across the world for over 30 years. Here are the main features of our policies.
Select the doctor/hospital of your choice in Vietnam and other countries within your coverage zone.
Cover for doctor visits, tests, and physio on the SilverLite, Silver, and Gold plans. On Bronze, you have cover for post-hospital outpatient treatment only.
Cover for when you’re admitted to hospital (including doctor fees, surgery, nursing care, theatre charges, and diagnostic tests).
Full cover for cancer treatment including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and genome testing of cancer cells.
If you have an emergency that requires immediate assistance, call our 24-hour helpline.
We’ll arrange your evacuation if the urgent hospital treatment for a life or limb-threatening condition isn’t available locally.
When you become a member, you’ll have a dedicated contact to help you with your policy.
Get near real-time security alerts for natural disasters and public safety incidents near your current location.
Annual benefit limit
Some of the benefits have waiting periods. For full information, visit our comparison page.
Our health insurance policies are international, which means you are covered both across Vietnam, and in other countries. When you apply for your policy, you will have the option to choose your coverage zone. Your coverage zone defines the countries and regions outside Vietnam where you will have full cover for medical treatment, restricted cover and no cover at all. For expats in Vietnam, there are three options to choose from.
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 7
Find out more about our coverage zones.
Though we hope you will choose William Russell, we cannot advise you on which health plan to purchase. We can provide you with information about the plans and common insurance strategies adopted by our members over the years, together with example premiums. This might give you a useful starting point on your insurance journey. If you need professional advice, you’ll need to contact an insurance broker.
Some members only want insurance cover for serious medical conditions such as cancer, strokes, and heart disease, or if they’re hospitalised following a road traffic accident or similar. Generally speaking, these members aren’t particularly bothered about paying from their own pocket for the occasional doctor visit or health check-up. Rather, they’re mainly concerned with insuring the things they couldn’t afford.
These members typically purchase a Bronze plan, which gives them cover for inpatient treatment only. They’ll often pair their Bronze plan with a higher excess. This keeps their premiums reasonable, without significantly compromising their cover should the worst happen and they suffer a serious medical condition.
Here are some example premiums for members adopting an insure what you cannot afford strategy.
Some members want insurance cover because they don’t want to pay a penny for their medical treatment. Rather, they want their insurance provider to cover everything. This is a legitimate approach, and we have options to help members follow such a comprehensive cover strategy.
These members typically purchase a Silver or Gold plan, which gives them cover for inpatient and outpatient treatment plus cover for annual check-ups. If members are on a tighter budget, they might choose the SilverLite plan, which dispenses with some of the bells and whistles that members can expect from a Silver or Gold plan.
They typically pair their plan with a nil excess or low excess.
It’s worth noting that comprehensive cover translates into higher premiums. To give you an idea, here are some pricing examples for a comprehensive cover strategy.
Our Gold plan is the only plan with benefits for childbirth and routine maternity care. So if you’re planning to start a family and you want you to give birth at a good private hospital in Vietnam, the mother will need the Gold plan. Though it’s our most expensive plan, the good news is that the father and children (if you’re including them on your policy) can choose a different, cheaper plan.
Here are some example premiums for a member on the Gold plan pursuing a family strategy.
If you’re travelling around Vietnam and across South East Asia, your priority may be to keep costs low.
A good place to start is our Bronze and SilverLite plans, which are the cheapest we offer. The Bronze plan gives you cover for inpatient treatment only, which you’d need if you were diagnosed something serious like cancer or if you were involved in a big road traffic accident. The SilverLite plan adds basic cover for outpatient treatment such as physiotherapy and doctor visits.
You can pair your plan with a higher excess and/or cheaper coverage zone, which will further reduce your premiums.
Here are some example premiums for members pursuing a digital nomad strategy.
It’s a fact of life that health insurance premiums get more expensive as we get older. Even if you are fit and in good health, our data tells us that seniors and retirees require more healthcare on average.
When standard premiums are high, most of our members look for ways to reduce their premium. Often this means prioritising cover for serious medical conditions such as cancer and strokes, while compromising on cover for outpatient benefits like doctor visits and reducing the geographical scope of their policy.
Our senior members typically purchase a Bronze plan, which gives them cover for inpatient treatment only. They’ll often pair their Bronze plan with a higher excess and a restrictive coverage zone. This keeps their premiums reasonable, without significantly compromising their cover should the worst happen and they suffer a serious medical condition.
Here are some example premiums for members pursuing a senior strategy.
These premium examples are indicative, and are subject to your personal circumstances and your application. Our premiums are also available in Euros and pounds sterling. You can add family members to your policy.
While you do not need health insurance to secure a visa to live in Vietnam, it’s a good idea to start your policy before you arrive. This is so that you’ll have immediate access to high-quality healthcare from the moment you set foot in Vietnam. Taking out international health insurance is easy with William Russell. You can do it today in just four steps.
We offer four health plans, each with different levels of cover and different prices. Compare them to find the plan that’s right for you.
We’ll ask you a few details (your age, your location), and then we’ll show you prices. It only takes a few minutes. A couple of days after your quote, someone from our team will email or call you to find out how we can help you further! They won’t bug you, and you can opt out at any time.
Once you’ve found your right plan, simply complete our digital application form. We’ll ask you a few questions about your health, occupation, and lifestyle. You’ll also need to declare any pre-existing medical conditions.
Once we’ve reviewed your application, we’ll decide the terms on which we can offer you a policy. We’ll send you a formal acceptance invitation, which doubles as a premium invoice. If you accept the terms we’re offering, all you need to do is pay your premium. Your policy and cover begin as soon as we receive your premium, at which point we’ll send you your policy documents.
We want to provide you with an insurance policy you can rely on, so it is important that you fully understand the scope of the cover we provide. You can find answers to the most common questions about international health insurance in Vietnam below, but feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of our award-winning team. We’d be glad to help.
Yes, you’ll be covered everywhere within Vietnamese territory. This includes all major cities, islands, throughout the countryside and in jungles and remote regions.
Yes. Most of our members reside permanently in a foreign country. But we do provide policies to digital nomads and backpackers who expect to spend at least 6 months of the year travelling outside their home country.
If you only intend to stay in Vietnam for a short period as part of a longer journey through the region, you might be interested in our Zone 7 option. This gives you full cover for medical treatment and emergency medical evacuation in most South East Asian countries, and is extremely cost effective.
You must be under age 76 when your policy starts, but once your policy starts you can renew it for as long as you need it—even if your health deteriorates.
We do not typically cover pre-existing medical conditions and related conditions. But that doesn’t mean you cannot apply for a policy if you have pre-existing conditions.
When you apply for a policy, we ask you to complete a medical questionnaire. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, we may exclude that condition from cover or we may cover the condition but increase your premium accordingly. If you suffered your pre-existing medical condition a long time ago, we may agree to cover it without a premium increase.
You can choose to pay your premium in US dollars, pounds sterling, or Euros. You can pay by credit or debit card, bank transfer, cheque, or direct debit (if you pay your premium in pounds sterling). Our payment frequency options are annual, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly. Paying your premiums annually is the cheapest option.
As soon as your policy starts, we’ll cover you for eligible medical treatment. Some benefits, however, have a waiting period. This means you cannot claim for medical treatment under these benefits until the waiting period (usually a number of months) has expired. It’s also important to note that your policy doesn’t cover pre-existing medical conditions, which are medical conditions that existed before the start date of your policy.
It takes 2 minutes to get a price on our quick quote tool. You can apply there and then using our digital application form, which will take you between 10-20 minutes. Once you’ve submitted your application, it normally takes us about 2 working days to get your policy started.
No, there’s no legal requirement to have health insurance in Vietnam. You won’t need to show proof of health insurance to secure a visa or residency permit. This means you are free to take out your policy after you arrive.
International health insurance gives you comprehensive cover for medical treatment when you’re living and working in a foreign country. It is intended for people and families who intend to settle down abroad, offering access to high-quality medical facilities around the world, with added benefits to complement your life.
Travel insurance, meanwhile, is designed for short trips to one or more countries. With travel insurance, you’ll get cover for lost luggage, flight delays and cancellations, and legal costs, plus a few benefits for medical treatment. Some travel insurance policies are only available for up to 30 days, so may not be suitable for people who want to live in a foreign country long-term.
William Russell was one of the first insurance providers to cover people living abroad, and we’ve earned a reputation for outstanding customer experience.
When you purchase a policy from William Russell, you can be sure there’ll always be money to pay your claims. The insurer behind our health insurance is a company in the Allianz group, one of the largest financial services companies in the world.
We have independently verified reviews from over 1,000 of our members, and we win prestigious awards for our outstanding customer service. When you purchase a policy, you’ll be assigned your own dedicated policy manager as your main point of contact at William Russell.
Unlike other providers, we don’t tell you where you have to go for medical treatment. You can choose any doctor at any hospital in your coverage zone. And if you don’t know where to go, we’ll help you find a suitable hospital for your treatment.
William Russell have always been very sympathetic and extremely helpful. I never had any issues with William Russell – Reimbursements/Letters of Guarantee were always prompt. It was an excellent service – no issues, no questions and no delays.
I felt really, really supported, being able to write an email and knowing the person I sent it to was the one who would read and reply to it. I feel appreciated for being a member for so many years. And now that I’ve retired, I’ve even been given a discount on my health insurance package, which I’m grateful for.
What comes across strongest is the humanitarian aspect of William Russell…. always looking for the best treatment options for its members and not being too concerned with the cost issues. Had I not been air evacuated to the Nairobi Hospital when I was, I very likely would not have been around today. Thank you William Russell.
I liked that I could speak to a human being at the end of the phone. I just prefer dealing with someone directly. For me, in particular, it was very important to deal with someone regulated by a regulator as recognised and reputable as the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK).
What makes William Russell stand out from other providers is their great service, international coverage, and the ability to pick the plan that fit our lifestyle. When we first signed up we were dating and traveling the world, then married and pregnant, and now have two beautiful boys and we have been able to pick plans that best suit our needs.
If you’re not happy with your health insurance policy or the service we provide, and you haven’t yet made a claim, then we’ll refund the premium you’ve paid—no questions asked.
We put our members at the heart of everything we do. We’re proud of our award-winning customer service and our members rate it highly.
The insurer behind our policies is an insurance company in the Allianz group – one of the world’s largest financial services groups.
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