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Not everyone can "handle" risks on their own:

In life, not everyone has sufficient accumulated resources to proactively cope with risks such as illness, accidents, loss of working ability, or old age and infirmity.

The costs of medical examination and treatment, especially for severe illnesses, long-term treatment, or the use of high-tech services, can exceed the affordability of many families. Similarly, the loss of income for an extended period can directly affect the lives of workers and their families.

This reality makes the need for a community-based, stable and long-term protection mechanism essential

Sharing mechanism - the foundation of social security policy

SI & HI policies are built on the principles of contribution-benefit and risk-sharing among participants

Accordingly, people who have income and the ability to contribute participate in a common fund. When a portion of participants face risks such as illness, occupational accidents and diseases, or childbirth, or upon reaching retirement age, the SI & HI funds pay benefits according to regulations.

The SI & HI funds are protected and uniformly managed by the State; the the Ministry of Finance is the state management authority that performs the function of state management, and VSS organizes the implementation, ensuring that they are used for the right purpose, are transparent, and are stable in the long term.

This management mechanism helps the fund operate stably, ensuring continuous and full payment of benefits to participants.

On this foundation, SI and HI demonstrate the following basic features:

They are not aimed at profit, but towards ensuring social security for the people.

They do not select participants based on risk levels, creating opportunities and encouraging participation for many groups of people in society.

Their benefits are regulated by law and are organized and implemented uniformly, associated with the responsibilities of the State.

These factors create the foundation for SI & HI to become a widespread social protection mechanism, aiming to stabilize people's lives sustainably.

Protecting citizens throughout their lives

SI & HI policies do not only provide support at one point in time but also accompany people throughout their lives.

When participating in SI, in the event of risks such as illness, work-related accidents - occupational diseases, or maternity, employees receive partial income compensation through the corresponding benefits of the SI policy, helping them maintain their living standards.

Upon reaching retirement age, SI participants who meet the conditions are entitled to a monthly pension, which is a stable and long-term source of income. Additionally, pensioners are provided with a HI card covering 95% of eligible of medical examination and treatment costs within the scope of benefits, helping to reduce healthcare expenses.

For HI participants, the HI fund covers from 80% to 100% of medical examination and treatment costs depending on the beneficiary group, including many high-tech services and treatments for critical illnesses.

The figures show that the scope of protection is increasingly expanding

Data from 2025 shows that the scale of SI & HI implementation continues to expand:

The rate of SI coverage reached 45.1% of the labor force within the working age.

The rate of HI coverage reached over 95.1% of the population.

In 2025:

Nearly 9.1 million people received sickness and maternity benefits

More than 186,000 people began receiving pensionsand monthly allowances.

Over 3.5 million people received monthly pensions and SI allowances.

Approximately 195.5 million visits were made for medical examination and treatment covered by HI, with an amount of approximately 161.6 trillion VND.

These figures reflect that more and more people are accessing and benefiting from the benefits of the social security system.

Core objective: Ensuring Social Security, Not for Profit

The core objective that defines the essence of SI and HI policies is to ensure social security for the people, not for profit, but to provide support when risks related to income and health arise. This is a consistent orientation throughout the policy-making and implementation process.

Based on this, SI & HI are designed to expand coverage, creating opportunities for all people to participate, regardless of income, occupation, or health status. At the same time, the State implements mechanisms to support contributions for some vulnerable groups to ensure inclusiveness and accessibility to policies.

Fund management is carried out according to the principle of risk sharing in the community - "the many compensate for the few," whereby those who can contribute together support those who face risks related to health, employment, or when they reach retirement age. This mechanism not only creates a stable financial foundation but also contributes to spreading the spirit of mutual assistance and cohesion in society.

It can be seen that SI and HI are not only insurance policies but also important tools for the State to regulate society, minimize risks, narrow the gap, and move towards equity and sustainable social security for all people.

Promoting the Role of Implementation, Ensuring the Rights of Participants

For SI and HI policies to be effectively implemented in practice and become a solid support for the people, the determining factor lies not only in the content of the policy but also in the implementation phase. In the past, VSS has promoted administrative procedure reform, shortened the time for processing dossiers, and applied information technology and digital transformation in management, payment, and service provision.

People can look up their participation process, monitor their benefits, and perform online public services through digital platforms such as VssID, integrated with citizen identification and electronic identification.

The payment of SI & HI, and unemployment insurance benefits is carried out fully and on time, ensuring uninterrupted benefits for participants.

In the context of the increasing need to ensure income and health care for the people, SI and HI policies, with the principle of sharing and long-term protection, are gradually affirming their role as pillars of the social security system, contributing to stabilizing people's lives and moving towards the goal of all people being protected from the risks in life.