Reporter: Could you please elaborate on the achievements that the VSS gained last year in the post-COVID-19 stage as well as the economic recession?

VSS Deputy Director General Tran Dinh Lieu:

Last year, many enterprises faced numerous challenges in their production and business activities. These difficulties included increased raw material prices, warehouse costs, transportation costs, and a decreased number of orders. As a result, many businesses had to terminate labor contracts with employees to save costs. This led to a reduction in production, operations being stopped, and some businesses having to dissolve and go bankrupt. Consequently, the number of unemployed people in the working age group tended to increase. Many employees withdrew one-time social insurance to cover their living expenses due to these difficulties.

However, the VSS (Vietnam Social Security) tackled these difficulties by implementing solutions and mobilizing people to participate in social insurance. The VSS identified the development of participants in social, health, and unemployment insurance as an important political task to move towards the goal of social and health insurance for all people, as outlined in the resolutions of the Party and Government.

Viet Nam Social Security’s Deputy Director General Tran Dinh Lieu

Specifically, the Viet Nam Social Security instructed social security offices in provinces and cities nationwide to assess the changes in labour force and demand over the past year, in order to develop a scenario that will facilitate the management of social-insurance programmes.

Additionally, the Viet Nam Social Security has taken proactive measures to advise local authorities and enhance the operational effectiveness of steering committees responsible for implementing social and health insurance policies at various administrative levels. Furthermore, it has set specific targets to promote participation in social insurance at the commune and village levels.

The agency proposed localities to spend local budget providing additional payments to individuals participating in voluntary social insurance and household health insurance. This initiative aims to encourage the review of non-participant data based on the database provided by tax authorities. Additionally, the agency has developed weekly, monthly, and quarterly plans to encourage businesses to actively engage in these insurance programmes.

Moreover, the agency had updated and classified potential groups that have not yet participated in social and health insurance in each commune. This effort involves coordinating with organisations offering insurance premium collection services to host customer conferences in order to increase participation among the community members.

The VSS had tasked its officers with closely monitoring and encouraging units and businesses to make timely payments for social insurance obligations incurred in the current month, as well as settling any outstanding payments from the previous month. They also conducted inspections at businesses that had not yet participated or had not fully participated, addressed violations, and prepared lawsuits against enterprises that intentionally committed infractions. Furthermore, they worked to eliminate difficulties and obstacles in implementing tasks at the local level.

By the end of last year, the country's social insurance scheme had over 18.2 million participants, representing 39.25 per cent of the working-age labour force. Additionally, nearly 14.7 million people were enrolled in the unemployment insurance, reaching 31.58 per cent of the labour force in the working age. Furthermore, the country had over 93.3 million participants in the health insurance scheme, which accounted for 93.35 per cent of the population. Notably, the revenue from the social, health, and unemployment insurance surpassed the targets set by the Prime Minister. Specifically, the insurance sector collected VNĐ472.3 trillion (US$19.28 billion) by the end of last year, exceeding the assigned estimate by 101.41 per cent.

Reporter: What were the outcomes of the inspection work conducted last year, which involved collecting and developing social and health insurance participants and aimed to detect, rectify, and guide units to better implement policies?

-VSS Deputy Director General Tran Dinh Lieu:

The social insurance sector collaborated closely with relevant ministries and agencies in conducting inspection activities. We not only coordinated and participated in interdisciplinary inspection teams to ensure compliance with laws on social, health, and unemployment insurance, but also developed and implemented interdisciplinary inspection plans last year.

The sector simultaneously directed social security offices in provinces and cities to revise inspection plans. The focus was on reviewing and analysing data from professional software and information provided by tax authorities to enhance the efficiency and quality of inspection work. Additionally, strict measures were taken to address administrative violations and prepare prosecution files in accordance with regulations. As a result, that approach yielded positive outcomes by increasing the number of participants, revenue, and effectively managing late payments. Furthermore, it served as a deterrent against violations by employers, thereby safeguarding the legal rights and interests of employees.

The sector also conducted inspections using traditional methods combined with "electronic data processing" to promote IT application and digital transformation. This integration of traditional methods with electronic data processing allowed for the utilisation of big data, resulting in shortened inspection times. That approach did not disrupt the production and business activities of enterprises, while also leading to cost and human resource savings for the inspections.

Last year, the sector conducted inspections at 22,584 units, including random inspections at 4,810 units. The total amount of late payments before the inspections was VND2.3 trillion ($93.9 million). After the inspections, the units immediately paid an amount of late payments worth VND1.3 trillion ($53.1 million).

The sector detected 54,889 cases of violations on payment levels with arrears of VND192.5 billion ($7.85 million) and requested to recover an amount of VND123.8 billion ($5.05 million) from the social, unemployment, and health insurance funds due to improper benefits.

Reporter: What solutions would the sector implement to increase social, health and unemployment insurance participants in 2024 despite continued difficulties and challenges?

-VSS Deputy Director General Tran Dinh Lieu:

It is anticipated that the increase of social, health, and unemployment insurance participants will continue to encounter numerous challenges in policy mechanisms and implementation processes throughout the current year.

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Despite the potential for participation in compulsory social insurance among certain groups of employees, they are not included in the list of participants (such as business managers, cooperative managers, operators who do not receive a salary, individual business household owners, and employees working under flexible policies, etc.). Furthermore, there has been a lack of serious enforcement of criminal proceedings for evasion of social insurance payments, and there is no legal regulation on the entrustment or authorisation to collect compulsory social insurance.

Several small and micro enterprises demonstrated weak compliance with the law, deliberately avoiding paying social insurance for their employees. The sharing and provision of labour utilisation information by State labour management agencies to local social security offices had not been expedited. The COVID-19 pandemic had a profoundly negative impact, posing challenges and difficulties for the production and business activities of numerous companies.

In regards to voluntary social insurance, the level of support from the State budget for participants remained low and inflexible. The duration required to pay into social insurance in order to qualify for a pension was still lengthy. Additionally, in 2022, the poverty line in rural areas rose from VND700,000 ($28.5) to VND1.5 million ($61.1). As a result, the minimum voluntary social insurance payment increased from VND154,000 ($6.2) per month to VND330,000 ($13.4) per month. This escalation led to many disadvantaged individuals discontinuing their participation in the programme. Furthermore, people's income continued to be low and unstable, and the outreach of social insurance policies was not sufficiently extensive.

When it comes to health insurance, there was no policy in place to support groups of people residing in communes in coastal areas and islands that were no longer classified as disadvantaged and in need of Government assistance. (Previously, individuals living in these areas were provided with free health insurance cards through the Government financial support, but this support has since been discontinued.)

Moreover, the support from the State budget for households engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishery, and salt production was limited, and participants in household health insurance experienced unstable income, with many only enrolling in the health insurance when they fell ill or had an accident.

The participation rate in the social insurance system among the labour force is projected to reach approximately 42.7 per cent this year, while the participation rate in unemployment insurance is expected to be around 34.18 per cent. Additionally, the participation rate in health insurance is anticipated to be as high as 94.11 per cent. As a result, it is crucial for the insurance sector to diligently adhere to the policies, guidelines, and directives set forth by the Party, the National Assembly, and the Government, in order to solidify these into actionable goals and effectively implement them.

The insurance sector has been tasked with comprehensively assessing the challenges associated with implementing insurance policies and laws. This involves close collaboration with related sectors and agencies to propose necessary amendments and additions to existing policies and laws. Furthermore, there is a need for innovative approaches in communication, ensuring both practicality and effectiveness. The sector is also responsible for overseeing the implementation of solutions to increase participation, decrease late payment amounts, ensure timely and complete payment of social and health insurance benefits, as well as enhancing random inspections and promptly addressing any violations.