Positive signals in the development of participants

According to the VSS’ report, in the first five months of the year, the development indicators of social and health insurance participants increased compared to April and the same period in 2022. Specifically, the work of collecting and developing social, health, and unemployment insurance participants achieved and increased compared to the same period in 2022, with about 17.47 million participants in social insurance, accounting for 37.48% of the workforce within the eligible age range, an increase of 2.7% compared to the same period in 2022. In particular, the industry has flexibly implemented many solutions to develop health insurance participants and achieved positive results with about 90.69 million participants (an increase of 4.43 million people compared to the same period in 2022). The total social, health, and unemployment insurance revenue is estimated to reach VND 178,772 billion.

The work of resolving social and health insurance policies: Although the number of people receiving social and health insurance policies has increased, the work of resolving and paying social, health, and unemployment insurance policies is always fully ensured and timely delivered to each participant, which has contributed to supporting and stabilizing the lives of workers, especially in the context of difficulties in employment and income for people during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The work of reforming administrative procedures, applying information technology, and promoting digital transformation in the activities of the industry continues to be emphasized. In particular, efforts are made to promote the integration and provision of online public services on the National Public Service Portal; Digitizing records, documents, and results of resolving administrative procedures in the field of implementing social insurance policies.

VSS’ General Director Nguyen The Manh chaired the agency briefing in June 2023

At the conference, leaders of specialized units reported in detail on the progress of implementation in some operational areas in the first six months of the year, forecasted the situation and plans, and proposed solutions for 2023. The industry leaders provided directions and measures to implement tasks in the coming time.

Deputy Director General Tran Dinh Lieu evaluated that the work of collecting and developing social insurance participants is facing difficulties due to the impacts of the economy and policy changes, which requires provinces and cities to make more efforts in implementing this work. The Deputy Director General requested a specific plan and implementation schedule, which closely follows the actual situation of local labor groups. It is also necessary to promptly organize an evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing social and health insurance policies in localities, clearly identifying the lessons learned to continue to promote further improvements.

Regarding the cost of health insurance, the Director of the Department of Health Insurance Implementation, Le Van Phuc, stated that the situation of health insurance payments and the number of medical examinations nationwide in the month showed signs of a decrease compared to the previous month. In response to this issue, Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa requested continuing to closely follow the units under the ministries and sectors to perform well in coordinating and advising on policy development, thereby ensuring practicality and limiting difficulties and obstacles that may arise in practice. Regarding the proposal to amend the Law on Health Insurance, Deputy Director General Nguyen Duc Hoa said that the opinions and feedback of the units are currently being collected and compiled, and a consensus opinion will be provided as soon as possible to send to the relevant authorities.

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Deputy Director General Chu Manh Sinh also emphasized the need to continue to raise the responsibility of leaders, strengthen coordination in carrying out tasks, resolve difficulties and obstacles at the local level, speed up the progress, and complete the set targets and tasks.

Scenario building; synchronous implementation of solutions

To cope with the difficulties that the social insurance industry in Vietnam is facing, especially in the remaining months of the year, General Director Nguyen The Manh emphasized the need for all units to closely monitor and react promptly to the situation. Local social security agencies need to closely follow the industry's directions, coordinate closely with local authorities, and develop appropriate and practical scenarios, with the important task of ensuring the coverage target as planned.

In terms of specific tasks, the General Director directed specialized units of the VSS to continue to closely coordinate with units under ministries and sectors in the process of researching and amending the Law on Social Insurance and Health Insurance. They should build clear assessment reports on the current situation, propose amendments to the laws, ensuring practicality.

At the same time, the General Director emphasized the importance of discipline and strict implementation of work content, especially raising the responsibilities of leaders to ensure the good implementation of the set targets and tasks from the early months of the year. It is also important to identify and propose solutions to potential risks that may arise in the implementation process./.