Manh made the statement on Tuesday when he chaired a meeting with the branch, discussing the implementation of social and health insurance policies in the province.

The branch was told to optimise the use of the health insurance fund and review shortcomings to ensure the right of participants, he said.

Illustrative image (VSS)

Besides, the branch needed to focus on communication and dissemination so that people could understand more about social and health insurance policies and feel secure when they participated, he said.

Currently, the number of employees returning to work in the province was high, therefore, the branch had to strengthen inspections and co-operate with relevant agencies to increase the number of participants in social and health insurance, he said.

Manh required the branch to continue maintaining their spirit at work, overcome difficulties and better perform the assigned tasks in the future.

Speaking at the meeting, director of the branch Than Duc Lai said by the end of October, the total number of social insurance participants was 356,884, reaching 96.3 per cent of the target.

There were 330,519 people participating in compulsory social insurance, an increase of 29,318 people compared to the same period last year, he said.

The number of participants in voluntary social insurance was 26,365, achieving 84.4 per cent of the target, an increase of 7,554 people compared to the same period last year, he added.

The total number of people participating in health insurance was 1,688,824 people, reaching 98.5 per cent of the target, about 0.5 per cent higher than the same period last year, he said.

The total revenue of social, health and unemployment insurance reached VND5.5 trillion (US$241.5 million), reaching 74.5 per cent of the target, an increase of 7.6 per cent compared to the same period last year, he said.

The ratio of companies and units delaying their payment of social, health and unemployment insurance accounted for 1.9 per cent of the total receivables in the province, he said.

Lai also said that the branch had paid for 106,583 social insurance participants since early this year, an increase of 30,704 people compared to the same period last year.

The branch also made a payment for 2,746,815 health insurance participants so far this year, with a total cost of over VND1 trillion (US$44 million), accounting for 74.6 per cent of the assigned task.

The branch had actively followed Resolution No 68 and Resolution No 116, thereby supporting local employees and employers, who were affected by the pandemic, he said.

Accordingly, the branched allowed seven local companies, with 5,071 employees, to temporarily suspend payments to the retirement and survivorship fund, with an amount of VND27.9 billion (US$1.2 million).

It also reduced the payment to the fund of occupational accident and disease insurance for 4,041 local companies and units with a total of 237,924 employees.

The branch already gave supporting funds of VND1 million (US$44) to 36,101 employees each, who were suspended from work at the companies due to the pandemic.

Regarding the implementation of Resolution 116, the branch had reduced the payment of unemployment insurance for 3,519 local businesses, with a total amount of over VND165 billion (US$7.2 million).

Currently, the branch had paid VND412.5 billion (US$18.1 million) for 182,023 local employees, who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

The branch had promoted the application of VssID. By the end of October, over 260,000 social insurance participants installed the application, reaching 116.6 per cent of the target.

Lai said this month, the branch would focus on operating “The month of encouraging local people to participate in social insurance”.

It would increase the number of social insurance participants in accordance with the Plan No. 2800/KH-BHXH of Viet Nam Social Security as well as conducting more inspections at companies and units that showed signs of abusing and profiteering from social, unemployment and health insurance, he said.