An overview of the teleconference at VSS headquarters

Attending the teleconference at the VSS headquarters were the VSS Deputy General Directors; leaders of the social insurance agencies of the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, and Vietnam Post Office; permanent members of the offices of VSS’s Management Council and Party Committee; and leaders of units of the VSS. The teleconference spanned across 63 cities and provinces with the participation of leaders of local VSS social insurance offices and their divisions, directors of district VSS social insurance offices, and representatives from local post offices.

Taking active part in completing data on social insurance, health insurance

According to a VSS report, in the first six months of this year, it coordinated with relevant ministries and sectors in perfecting the policy and legal frame work  on social insurance and health insurance in order to facilitate the effective implementation of the sector’s political tasks. It ordered provincial and municipal social insurance offices to continue advising local Party Committees and People’s Committees to carry out the Prime Minister’s Decree No. 34/CT-TTg on intensifying measures to increase social insurance coverage, and assign quotas for expanding the number of health insurance participants to each local office following the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1167/QD-TTg. The agency also worked with ministries and sectors involved in addressing shortcomings on social insurance and health insurance policies, and coordinated closely with the People’s Committees at all levels in managing and making a list of health insurance participants whose premiums are covered wholly or partially by the State budget.

In the process of collecting insurance contribution and expanding the contingent of the participants, the VSS coordinated with relevant ministries and sectors to timely solve problems and shortcomings that arose, along with directing and encouraging local offices. As of June 30, the number of social insurance participants reached 14.08 million, of which 13.85 million joined compulsory social insurance and 230,000 others joined voluntary social insurance, equivalent to 94.6 percent and 69.8 percent of the set targets, respectively. The number of people who bought unemployment insurance was 11.8 million, equal to 91.7 percent of the set target, while 81.45 million people participated in health insurance, representing a coverage rate of 86.9 percent, exceeding the quota set in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1167/QD-TTg by 1.7 percent. The total collection of social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance contributions reached 150.823 trillion VND, equal to 45.71 percent of the yearly target, while the total debts were 15.968 trillion VND, of which 6.851 trillion VND would make interest, accounting for 3.4 percent of the collection plan.

State management over social insurance continued to be intensified  through  the  VSS’s  better  coordination solutions  between the State management office on social insurance and social insurance offices at all levels. Policies for social insurance participants were implemented in a timely manner, with administrative procedures simplified, while monthly retirement pensions and social insurance allowances were paid fully and conveniently to beneficiaries. The VSS also consolidated and strengthened the management over the social insurance and unemployment insurance funds in order to balance revenues collected   and expenditures , and invested to increase the funds’ growth as regulated by law. In the first half of 2018, VSS  handled 59,890 documents related to retirement, survivor, work injuries, and occupational diseases; 403,539 documents on lump-sum allowances; and 3,549,054 documents related to illness. A total of 888,098 documents related to maternity benefits; and 182,860 documents regarding health recovery benefits were handled. Unemployment allowances were paid to 317,158 people and 14,930 others benefited from job retraining  assistance.

The Viet Nam Social Security also coordinated with the health sector to better implement health insurance policies. Making and deploying timely revision all related legal frame work of the Law on Health Insurance, including regulations on health check-ups and treatments for health insurance card holders; providing guidance on the implementation of basic health service packages reimbursed by the health insurance fund; defining specific conditions for payment of medical consumable  materials; and improving health insured patients  data. In another hand, to prevent the taking advantage of the health insurance fund, VSS has been continuing  working on  revising medical claim review  methods and process, perfecting the health insurance information system, and working towards full transparency and publicity of health service delivery to insured people. It quickly addressed violations and actions attempting to take advantage of the health insurance fund, while ensuring benefits  delivered and favourable conditions for health insurance participants created. As a result, as of late June, health insurance cards were used about 84.9 million times. Some 12,190 health clinics were connected to the health insurance information system, equivalent to 97.6 percent of the total.

Communications continued to be implemented synchronously from the central to local levels across diverse forms. The sector maintained coordination programmes with relevant ministries, sectors, socio-political organisations, and press outlets to expand communications on social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance policies for each group.

Inspections were intensified as well, with priority given to increasing coordination between the VSS units and related ministries and sectors. In the first six months of this year, the VSS conducted inspections on social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance in six provinces and cities, while local social insurance offices conducted inspections at 2,777 units, through which the majority of units were seen to be active in paying social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance debts.

Drastic implementation of administrative reforms

The social security sector has continued to take drastic and concerted measures to boost administrative reforms according to the requirements of the Government. Time for conducting administrative procedures has been reduced, encouraging businesses to join social and health insurance systems. The reception and delivery of administrative outcomes through the public postal service system has been stepped up, as well as the coordination with the postal sector to pilot the application of information technology in the payment of pensions and monthly social insurance allowance. This has created favourable conditions for businesses and people in working with social insurance agencies.

The application of information technology in implementing social, health, and unemployment insurance policies has been defined as a key factor by the Vietnam Social Security in order to ensure the effective operation of management software systems, as well as reduce time and costs for businesses and people when making administrative procedures. As a result, in the first six months of 2018, the Vietnam Social Security continuously worked to improve the information technology infrastructure and centralised management of household database as a premise for the management and use of social insurance books and electronic health insurance cards, in addition to the building of a national database on insurance.

At the conference, participants focused their discussion on key issues such as difficulties and shortcomings in expanding coverage; reducing social, health, and unemployment insurance debts; handing over insurance books to workers; granting social insurance codes; ensuring benefits for participants; managing to ensure safe use of health and social insurance funds; reforming administrative procedures; applying information technology in management; and conducting specialised inspections. To fulfil tasks in the first six months of 2018, representatives of related functional departments of Vietnam Social Security had put forth specific instructions and suggestions as well as asked for direction from the VSS Director General to promptly remove difficulties in the field.

Speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Vietnam Post Office’s management board Pham Anh Tuan suggested the Vietnam Social Security make the payment of social insurance premiums easier with a move towards e-payments. Tuan also suggested promoting the information connection between social insurance agencies, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs’ Job  Centre, and the post offices to ensure the timely payment of unemployment benefit to unemployed workers. The Vietnam Post Office commits to building and carrying out a programme promoting social and health insurance via its postal instruments, namely a network of more than 2,000 mail trucks and four post office train carriages across the country.

At the conference, social insurance representatives from the Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Public Security recognised the active support of the Vietnam Social Security in effectively implementing social and health insurance policies for their staff in recent times. They expressed their hope that the Vietnam Social Security would continue coordinating with ministries in the field, as well as applying information technology to complete data connection and facilitating the implementation of social and health insurance policies.

Intensive medicine bidding continues to lower cost

To effectively launch these political tasks from now until the end of 2018, in addition to the implementation of the regular, main duties set in the plan, Deputy Minister and VSS General Director Nguyen Thi Minh stressed that the contribution collection of and increase in social insurance coverage are key tasks of the sector. Localities must devise creative and flexible solutions to complete the tasks ahead. Currently, about 300,000 firms have yet to join compulsory social insurance.

The contribution collection department   has issued a guiding document for localities to revise and collect information on the number of firms who are not yet signed up, along with the number of workers in respective firms, in order to devise measures to accelerate the collection of contribution  as soon as possible.

The official also said that for contribution collection of social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance, localities need to hasten a  list of contribution debt companies  to  work on  while promptly collecting monthly amounts. For firms with huge monthly debts, if the debt remains unpaid for two or three months, then it becomes more difficult for them to pay the total sum for the social security agency.

Minh also asked relevant agencies to complete the code of conduct and medical claim review  procedures. Agencies also need to arrange the completion of a dossier related to health insurance, while making sure to receive feedback and pay attention to training for medical claim review team.

Regarding the monitoring of misuses of the health insurance fund, a mechanism is needed to report, monitor, and strictly handle any violators. Thematic appraisal tasks and surprise inspections should be increased in localities with major signs of abnormalities. Intensive bidding will be continued to lower medicine costs. In particular, provinces need to make regular reports to Party committees and local authorities on the implementation of social insurance and health insurance schemes for prompt instructions.

International Cooperation Department