The conference was also attended by former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and former Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Hoang Van Chat; leaders of some units under the VSS and departments and agencies of the province, as well as leaders of the People's Committees of districts and cities.

At the conference, Vice Chairman of the Son La Provincial People's Committee, Dang Ngoc Hau, reported that in 2022, the province's social security agency had coordinated with relevant departments and agencies to provide advice on the issuance of the operational regulations of the Steering Committee, and to develop plans to implement objectives for increasing participation in social and health insurance, as well as coverage rates for health insurance. The agency also provided advice to the provincial People's Committee to allocate targets for social and health insurance for districts and cities.

As a result, by the end of 2022, the number of participants in social, health, and unemployment insurance had reached 1,213,796 people, an increase of 33,743 people compared to 2021. Specifically, compulsory social insurance participation reached 118,014 people (60,553 in the province and 57,461 from other provinces), achieving 100.07% of the plan issued by the VSS and 184.7% of the plan issued by the provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 3294/QD-UBND, equivalent to 16.3% of the labor force. Voluntary social insurance participation reached 28,503 people, a decrease of 6,499 people compared to 2021, achieving 100.07% of the plan issued by the VSS and 70.8% of the plan issued by the provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 3294/QD-UBND, equivalent to 3.9% of the labor force. Unemployment insurance participation reached 49,783 people, an increase of 386 people compared to 2021, achieving 100.1% of the plan issued by the VSS and equivalent to 6.87% of the labor force. Health insurance participation reached 1,247,547 people (1,185,293 in the province and 62,254 from other provinces), achieving 100.39% of the plan issued by the VSS in the province, and the coverage rate reached 96% of the population, exceeding the targets set by the provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 3294/QD-UBND (95.9% of the population) and the government in Decision No. 546/QD-TTg for 2022 (95.3% of the population).

Vice Chairman of the Son La Provincial People's Committee, Dang Ngoc Hau, spoke at the conference

At the beginning of the year, based on the targets set by the VSS and the provincial People's Committee, the provincial Social Insurance Agency had implemented targets for collecting and developing participation in social and health insurance in districts and revenue management departments. They had also instructed district-level social insurance agencies to actively advise local authorities on implementing social and health insurance policies, and allocated targets for developing participation in social insurance to each community, including villages and small neighborhoods. They had also signed commitments to achieving these targets between the chairpersons of local People's Committees.

In coordination with other departments, the provincial People's Committee had issued supportive policies from the local budget to expand coverage and increase participation in health insurance. Additionally, in order to increase the coverage rate of health insurance throughout the province, the committee had mobilized social resources and invited donations of health insurance cards for those in difficult circumstances, distributing a total of 3,992 cards.

VSS Deputy General Director Le Hung Son spoke at the Conference

At the conference, VSS Deputy General Director, Le Hung Son, expressed his gratitude to the provincial leaders, departments, and relevant agencies for their support and guidance, which had created favorable conditions for the Son La provincial social security agency to successfully complete its assigned tasks.

At the same time, the Deputy General Director emphasized that in the context of economic and social difficulties and challenges, in order to achieve the goal of developing participation and expanding coverage of social insurance to the entire workforce and health insurance to the whole population in a sustainable manner, in accordance with the Party and Government's Resolutions in the province of Son La, he respectfully requested the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee to pay attention to and guide the implementation of the following:

To have supportive mechanisms for voluntary social insurance participants and health insurance participants in different groups such as the near-poor, households with average living standards, students, and so on to quickly increase coverage (currently, 18 out of 63 provinces have state budget support for voluntary social insurance; 56 out of 63 provinces support near-poor households; 31 out of 63 provinces support average living standard households in agriculture, forestry, fishery, and salt industries; 28 out of 63 provinces support students; and 28 out of 63 provinces support 20%, 70%, or 100% for special groups such as ethnic minorities, the elderly, people with HIV, veterans, religious practitioners, and waste collectors).

The Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee should pay attention to and guide the social security agency to regularly provide information and reports on the implementation of social and health insurance work, especially the development of participation in social and health insurance, urge units to pay social and health insurance, and strictly handle enterprises that violate social and health insurance laws.

The leadership of the Son La Provincial Social Insurance Agency should regularly and actively report and advise the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee on the implementation of solutions to best carry out social and health insurance policies in the province.

The Deputy General Director also expressed confidence that, with the leadership and guidance of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Committee, and the coordination of departments, in the upcoming time, the implementation of social and health insurance policies in Son La province will achieve many positive results and contribute to ensuring social security for the people./.