VSS’ Deputy General Director Dao Viet Anh delivered a speech

Deploying solutions synchronously

At the working session, the leaders of the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency reported that as of the end of March 2023, there were 210,469 people participating in mandatory social insurance, 26,205 people participating in voluntary social insurance, and over 1.2 million people participating in health insurance in the province. The collection of social, health, and unemployment insurance premiums across the province reached 21.8% of the plan, increasing by 98.657 billion dong compared to the same period in 2022. The late payment rate currently accounts for 2% of the total amount due.

Regarding difficulties and challenges, the Director of the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency, Lo Thi Hoan, said that the number of people participating in mandatory social insurance in enterprises tends to decrease. In the first quarter of 2023, over 3,000 workers stopped participating in mandatory social insurance. One reason is that companies are increasing the use of automatic robots to replace manual labor in some production processes. In addition, the number of people participating in voluntary social insurance has also decreased. The province still needs to strive to increase the number of people participating in voluntary social insurance by over 5,620. The number of people participating in health insurance in some areas is still affected by Decision No. 861/QD-TTg and there are still about 50,000 people who have not yet participated.

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Tight control on health insurance treatment costs to ensure healthcare benefits for citizens

According to the report, in the first quarter of 2023, the total number of health insurance treatments in the province was 436,073, an increase of 152,330 treatments (53.67%) compared to the same period in 2022. The total amount spent on treatments also increased by 38.43%. Currently, Thai Nguyen’s social security agency has signed health insurance treatment contracts with 47 medical facilities, including 1 central-level hospital, 12 provincial-level hospitals, 26 district-level hospitals and equivalent facilities (including 15 private hospitals and 176 commune-level medical stations), and 8 medical stations in agencies, organizations, and schools.

The increase in the number of health insurance treatments is due to objective reasons, according to the assessment. The demand for medical treatment has increased significantly after a period of being affected by Covid-19. However, to tightly control the cost of health insurance treatments, Deputy Director of the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency, Nguyen Hong Truong, said that the agency regularly coordinates closely with the Department of Health and medical facilities to monitor the situation and hold evaluation meetings to assess the cost developments at each facility.

In this regard, Director of the Department of Health Insurance Implementation, Le Van Phuc, proposed that the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency coordinate closely with medical facilities to implement new effective appraisal processes. At the same time, continue to analyze and evaluate the cost of treatments at each facility and require health insurance appraisers to closely monitor the actual situation to timely implement measures to limit the increasing costs and ensure healthcare benefits for citizens.

Regarding the development of participation, Deputy Director of the Department of Social Insurance Book and Health Insurance Card, Dinh Duy Hung, suggested that the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency needs to survey and clearly understand each potential group for the development of voluntary social insurance and health insurance for households in each locality. Based on that, advise the provincial People's Committee to direct local authorities to mobilize resources to support participation or allocate quotas and develop specific solutions to actively promote development.

Actively seize advantages, effectively implement targets and tasks of social and health insurance development

At the working session, VSS’ Deputy General Director, Dao Viet Anh, acknowledged and highly appreciated the results that the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency has achieved in the past period. Especially the advisory work for the provincial People's Committee, coordination among departments and sectors have been regularly implemented, actively contributing to the development of social and health insurance participation in the locality.

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However, according to the Deputy General Director, there is still great potential for development in Thai Nguyen, and it is necessary to study suitable communication methods, flexible for each group such as through social networks, community activities, and the local broadcasting system. At the same time, advise the local authorities to have more supportive policies and mobilize social resources to help people have the conditions to participate.

During the session, VSS’ Deputy General Director, Dao Viet Anh, awarded a fixed-termappointment decision to Mr. Dinh Van Son, Head of the Thai Nguyen’s social security agency, to hold the position of Deputy Director of the Thai Nguyen’s social security agencyfrom April 1, 2023./.