Decision No. 16/2022/QĐ-TTg on the mechanism to support regular expenses for public health事业单位因受COVID-19影响收入不足以支出。

Pursuant to …;

REGARDING THE MECHANISM FOR PROVIDING REGULAR EXPENSE SUPPORT TO PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTIONS THAT HAVE INSUFFICIENT REVENUE TO COVER EXPENSES DUE TO THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 30/2021/QH15 dated July 28, 2021 of the first session of the 15th National Assembly;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law 2015;

Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government stipulating the assignment of tasks, ordering goods or services, or tendering for the provision of public products and services using state budget funds from regular expenditure;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 86/NQ-CP dated August 6, 2021 of the Government on urgent measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic to implement Resolution No. 30/2021/QH15 dated July 28, 2021 of the 15th National Assembly;

At the proposal of the Minister of Health,

The Prime Minister issues this Decision regarding the mechanism for providing regular expense support to public health institutions that have insufficient revenue to cover expenses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decision stipulates the mechanism for providing regular expense support to public health institutions that have insufficient revenue to cover expenses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including public institutions performing tasks to provide public services or serve state management in specialized medical fields: preventive healthcare; diagnosis and treatment; rehabilitation and functional recovery; medical, forensic, and forensic psychiatric examination; traditional medicine; pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and medical equipment testing; food safety; population planning; reproductive health; health education and communication.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Public health institutions that are classified and granted financial autonomy rights for 2021 by the competent authority according to regulations, with total revenues, including operating revenues and regular expense budgets for 2021 provided by the state budget (if any), are insufficient to cover regular operational expenses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Organizations, entities, and individuals related to providing regular expense support to public institutions in the field of health that have insufficient revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. This Decision does not apply to facilities established for the purpose of admitting and treating COVID-19 patients, including: field hospitals for COVID-19 treatment; hospitals for COVID-19 treatment; intensive care hospitals for COVID-19; centers for intensive care of COVID-19 patients.

Article 3. Principles of Regular Expense Support

1. Public health institutions that are classified and granted financial autonomy rights for 2021 by the competent authority according to regulations, if their total revenues are less than their regular operational expenses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, shall be supported by the state budget for regular expenses.

2. Regular expenses shall not be supported for additional income and the establishment of funds under the autonomous mechanism of public institutions.

Article 4. Method of Determining and Level of Regular Expense Support

1. The revenue-expenditure difference is determined according to the provisions of Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the rights of public institutions to operate autonomously and bear responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance, Circular No. 71/2006/TT-BTC dated August 9, 2006 of the Ministry of Finance guiding certain provisions of Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the autonomous operation and financial responsibility of public institutions, and the Prime Minister's Decisions on the pilot autonomous mechanisms of certain hospitals.

2. In cases where the institution is reimbursed by the state budget for COVID-19 testing and treatment costs according to the service fee for diagnosis and treatment, the institution must consolidate the amount reimbursed by the state budget into its revenue and expenditure figures to determine the revenue-expenditure difference for regular expenses in 2021.

3. For expenditures related to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, which are reimbursed by the state budget according to Decree No. 29/2022/NĐ-CP dated April 29, 2022 of the Government detailing and implementing Resolution No. 12/2021/UBTVQH15 dated December 30, 2021 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly allowing the implementation of certain mechanisms and policies in the field of health to serve the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, the institution must consolidate these separately and not include them in the expenditure figure to determine the revenue-expenditure difference for regular expenses in 2021.

4. The level of regular expense support for 2021 is the amount supplemented to the budget equal to the revenue-expenditure difference for regular expenses of public health institutions in 2021, minus the surplus of the Reward Fund, Welfare Fund, Income Stability Reserve Fund, and remaining reform salary funds (if any) up to December 31, 2021.

Article 5. Time for Implementing Regular Expense Support

The implementation of regular expense support for public health institutions with insufficient revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic shall be carried out from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

Article 6. Sources of Funds for Implementing Regular Expense Support

1. Central budget supports regular expenses for public health institutions with insufficient revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic under the management of ministries and central agencies.

2. Local budget (including reserve funds, surplus reform salary funds) supports regular expenses for public health institutions with insufficient revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic under local management.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. Public health institutions base on their financial resources and regular expenses implemented in 2021 to determine the level of request for state budget support according to Article 4 of this Decision and submit it to the supervising agency and first-level budget unit for review and verification before July 15, 2022.

2. The supervising agency and first-level budget unit compile reports of public health institutions according to the attached consolidation form and submit them to the same-level finance agency for presentation to the competent authority for consideration and decision-making no later than August 15, 2022.

3. Regular expense support funds for public health institutions with insufficient revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be supplemented into the 2022 budget estimate and consolidated for settlement in the 2022 fiscal year.

4. The first-level budget unit is responsible for reviewing/approving the 2021 settlement of public health institutions under its direct management. In cases where the supplementary support funds are still insufficient, the first-level budget unit will aggregate and submit to the finance agency no later than October 1, 2022 for presentation to the competent authority for consideration and decision-making. In cases where the supplementary support funds are excessive, they must be returned to the state budget.

5. The Ministry of Finance and People's Committees of centrally-administered cities and provinces are responsible for allocating funds according to the budget management hierarchy to implement this.

6. Management, utilization, and settlement of funds shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on the state budget. The entity is responsible for the accuracy of the data requested for regular expense support from the state budget according to the law.

Article 8. Reference Provisions

In case the referenced documents in this Decision are replaced or amended, implementation shall be carried out according to the replaced or amended documents.

Article 9. Effective Date

1. For localities that have issued mechanisms for supporting regular expenses for public health institutions with insufficient revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, continue implementing the support mechanism issued by the locality; if necessary, adjust it to comply with this Decision.

2. This Decision takes effect from August 25, 2022.

3. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of centrally-administered cities and provinces, Heads of relevant agencies, units, and organizations are responsible for enforcing this Decision./.