There are more than 37,300 collection venues nationwide with more than 52,200 agents working at the collection agencies to serve people.

The Vietnam Post is the agency with the largest number of collectors. Insurance offices have improved to become more professional.

In 2020, the Vietnam Post attracted 360,000 people participating in voluntary social insurance, reaching 120 per cent of the target, accounting for 57 per cent of the achievements made by the entire sector.

The Vietnam Post also called for health insurance application of 5.6 million households, reaching 105 per cent of the plan. The agency has so far paid pensions and allowances to 97 per cent of beneficiaries nationwide.

Vietnam Post general director Chu Quang Hao said the Vietnam Post had frequently organised training courses for employees who are in charge of information dissemination so that they can offer consultation and answer inquiries about voluntary social insurance policies. The Vietnam Post has also come up with a creative idea of holding livestream sessions to offer consultations and disseminate insurance information.

Illustrative image (source: Internet)

According to the representative of Quang Binh Province’s Social Insurance Agency, the co-ordination between the local social security agency and the provincial post office has obtained positive results. The post and telecommunications sector has completed payments of pensions at home to beneficiaries, received dossiers and returned results of administrative procedures, and handed over social insurance records to employees via the postal system.

According to the representative of Thua Thien-Hue Province’s social security agency, collection offices have shown their role during the COVID-19 pandemic. The difficulty is unavoidable because many people are not really interested in the policy and still mistake social insurance with other types of commercial insurance. Consultation and explanations have changed many people’s perception.

A VSS representative said in 2021, Vietnam Post and social insurance sector would continue to closely co-ordinate to expand the network of voluntary social insurance participants and households in the health insurance scheme. At the same time, they will focus on direct and online policy dissemination.

Quang Binh Province’s social security agency has started to implement the plan from the first months of the year and aims to realise the targets by November.

The provincial social security agency has also co-ordinated with Quang Binh Post Office to train collectors on social insurance and health insurance policies.

It aims to improve staff quality and have one collector in each village.

The Vietnam Post has asked their local agencies to ensure COVID-19 prevention protocols are followed while paying pensions and allowances.

People who live in areas under social distancing measures will receive the pension and allowances when the social distancing is lifted.

Post office staff must wear face masks and have body temperatures checked while interacting with beneficiaries. Payment venues must have hand sanitiser and strictly follow distancing protocols./.