Viet Nam Social Security’s specialised inspection helps protect the legitimate rights and benefits of the social insurance and health insurance participants. Illustrative Photo

The outcome from specialised inspections of insurance premium payments and settlement of violations has clearly changed the awareness of organisations and individuals about the role, responsibility, purpose and significance of the participation into the social insurance and health insurance system, which will help further strengthen the trust of whole society in the Party and State’s social welfare policies in general and social insurance and health insurance policies in particular.

Statistics from Viet Nam Social Security show that in 2021 and the first nine months of 2022, thanks to specialised inspections of social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premium contributions, up to VND4,383 billion (nearly US$177 million) worth of delayed contributions to the social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance system was collected (in which VND2,445 billion was recovered in 2021 and the rest in the first nine months of 2022).

Of note, with an aim to minimise the delayed contributions of social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premiums in the final months of 2022, Viet Nam Social Security has drastically directed social insurance agencies in cities and provinces to seriously work out solutions to retrieve premiums in arrears. Besides the orgnisation of specialised inspections which focused only on methods of contribution, certain units which were singled out for inspection were required to go to the inspection force’s office to shorten inspection time. Thanks to the synchronous implementation of above-mentioned activities, within August and September 2022, the Viet Nam’s social insurance sector carried out unexpected inspections at 2,233 units that delayed premium contributions from three months and over, and owed a large amount of unpaid premiums. Accordingly, the inspection forces not only required employers to timely contribute the social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premiums in due but also retrieved more than VND250 billion of the unpaid social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premiums from these units. It is expected that in the final months of 2022, about VND200 billion of the delayed contributions will be collected through inspections.

Illustrative image (internet)

Besides the increased collection of unpaid premiums and decreased late premium contributions of social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance in 2021 and the first nine months of 2022, the inspections also found out that 92,380 people have not joined the insurance system (42,000 people in 2021, and 50,380 people in the first nine months of 2022); and insufficient payment of insurance premiums up to VND246.6 billion (in which VND127.5 billion found in 2021 and VND119 billion in the first nine months of 2022), thus contributing to the increased collection of insurance premiums and expansion of participants.

The effectiveness of Viet Nam Social Security’s specialised inspections of the payment of social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premiums has obviously changed and improved the awareness of and compliance with the law on social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance by employers and better protected the legitimate rights and benefits of employees.  These achievements are practical foundations to say that social insurance agencies have capability and resources to carry out specialised inspections to timely discover and prevent violations of law on social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance.

Viet Nam social Security is a Government body in charge of implementing social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance policies and related benefits for participants; and in charge of carrying out some State management activities; and is organised and managed with a vertical, centralised and unified system from the central to local levels, therefore the draft Inspection Law (revised) – scheduled to be debated at the on-going 4th sitting of the 15th National Assembly – regulates the establishment of an inspection agency which includes Viet Nam Social Security. Such regulation is necessary and practical in order to protect the rights and benefits of the insured and contribute to better implementing the social welfare policies; and national social-economic development and stability./.