According to Ms. Himanshi Jain at the meeting, the program aimed to support VSS to identify people among the underserved groups in Vietnam were likely to participate in voluntary SI, the charactersitics they possess and how to attract them to participate and enhance the policy sustainability. “Program-related activities have been taking from September 2022 to August 2023. However, the activities need to be carried out earlier, so that they can be an important input for the revision of the Law on SI," noted Ms. Himanshi Jain.

Specifically, 4 main activities in the program include: To develop a process for implementing the voluntary SI program and propose improvements in the implementation chain; use econometric analysis to assess the impact of participation subsidies to expand coverage; face-to-face survey to examine changes in the design of the voluntary social insurance scheme for coverage expansion; advocacy and program marketing.

Photo of the meeting

According to Ms. Himanshi, these 4 activities above would improve the operational efficiency of voluntary SI program, through the development of an implementation process listed the customers’ journey from accessing, participating to ending, exiting the program; or the evaluation of impact of allowances to expanding coverage of voluntary SI program. Therefore, the awareness of people on the voluntary SI program in Viet Nam was improved.

“Through surveys and analysis, we will consider the level of participation with the expected adjustment of the support level according to the draft Law on SI (amended); propose design changes to improve the program's appeal; find out which organizations have the ability to reach potential audiences and can be agents of the social insurance agency; explore behavioural bottlenecks that can influence an individual's decision to contribute (or not)…” - Ms. Himanshi Jain further explained.

Illustration (Source: The Internet)

At the meeting, representatives of two institutions focused on clarifying the problems and obstacles in the program implementation scenario of the WB. In which, VSS representatives required to continue to clarify more about the authenticity of the effectiveness of the program. The WB representatives also would like to receive the coordination of VSS Departments in speeding up the implementation of activities, especially investigation and survey activities, because the New Year and Tet holidays are approaching. Lunar New Year...

Previously, the WB expert delegation also had a meeting with VSS Departments on the process of implementing the voluntary SI program (communication, registration, management, monitoring...). At the same time, they had opportunities to learn about the actual development of voluntary SI in Thai Nguyen province and Hai Phong City. In the localities, the delegation studied carefully about communication work, policies to support people to participate in voluntary social insurance; survey and grasp the actual situation in social insurance of districts; listen to the opinions of representatives of the Vietnam Women's Union, the Vietnam Farmers' Union...