Deputy General Director of Viet Nam Social Security Pham Luong Son made the statement on November 6 when he chaired a meeting with the branch about solutions to increase social insurance participants and the implementation of the Government’s Resolution No 116/NQ-TW, which was issued on September 24, to support employers and employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the province.

Son said the branch had to strengthen verification and payment of medical expenses for health insurance participants to ensure the rights of the participants.

The branch was ordered to balance the social insurance fund, make payment of medical expenses properly and on time, promote dissemination of the social insurance policies, simplify administrative procedures, enhance the application of information and technology as well as synchronise databases to create favourable conditions for participants, he said.

The branch was also required to improve the efficiency of the social insurance agents, review tax data of employees to find solutions to increase the participants, striving to fulfil the targets assigned by Viet Nam Social Security, he said.

The branch was tasked to urgently work with employers to finish financial support for both employers and employees affected by the pandemic from the unemployment insurance fund as soon as possible, he added.

Son also said that he highly appreciated the achievements of the branch during the pandemic, especially the consultation for the local administration about the implementation policies on social and health insurance in the province.

Although it had been affected by the pandemic, the branch still made efforts to complete its assigned tasks. Cao Bang is one of the provinces with a high rate of health insurance coverage – reaching 97.8 per cent of the local population, he said.

The task of increasing of participants in voluntary social insurance was also effectively implemented, he said.

Previously, at the meeting, director of the branch Nguyen Tien Hung said the branch had sought and deployed the most effective measures to implement the dual goals under the direction of the Government in the first 10 months of this year.

By the end of October, the province has 35,064 people participating in compulsory social insurance, reaching 96.5 per cent of the target. It also has 16,960 people participating in voluntary social insurance, reaching 95.56 per cent of the target and 502,936 people participating in health insurance, reaching 96.1 per cent of the target.

The branch reduced contributions to the unemployment insurance fund for 880 units, accounting for 98.4 per cent of the total units participating in the fund, with a total amount of over VND5.6 billion (US$245,000), he said.

The branch provided over VND247 billion (US$10.8 million) for 9,809 employees, who were affected by the pandemic, from the unemployment insurance fund, he said.

Hung said the branch had worked closely with local health facilities to create favourable conditions for health insurance participants in examination and treatment.

The branch already instructed businesses and people to use online public services, registered to use the application of VssID – the digital social insurance platform to ensure safety during the pandemic, he said.

It also made plans to conduct inspections on businesses and units in the province, especially businesses and units that showed signs of intentionally delaying payments of social insurance for their employees, he said.

It undertook many solutions to foster professional knowledge and skills among the branch staff, as well as guiding and supporting social insurance agents in districts to improve the efficiency of inspections, he said.

The branch also actively promoted communication and dissemination of the social insurance policy with diverse content and forms to fit with each specific target group, he said.

Accordingly, it disseminated new points of the social insurance policy, which took effect from January 2021; the utility of electronic transactions and online public services; the digital social insurance application - VssID; and the policies to support employees and employers affected by the pandemic under Resolution 68/NQ-CP and Resolution 116/NQ-CP, he said.

In addition to the achievements, the branch had faced difficulties in the implementation of social and health insurance policies in the province.

For example, some enterprises have yet to register compulsory social insurance for their employees or they only made payments of compulsory social insurance for some employees and not all. The number of people participating in health insurance decreased sharply due to the implementation of Decision No 861/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2021