It is crucial to prioritise investments in and enhancements of the quality of healthcare services, while concurrently promoting the digital transformation that is linked to administrative reform. This will ultimately lead to a greater participation in social and health insurance programmes.

Lieu made these remarks when he led the Viet Nam Social Security delegation to work with the provincial Steering Committee on implementing this year’s social and health insurance policies on March 6 in Binh Phuoc Province.

He also told the Binh Phuoc Social Security Office to closely follow the direction of the provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, and Viet Nam Social Security to coordinate with relevant agencies and localities to propose solutions for developing participants in social and health insurance; urging collection, reducing the rate of late payments; innovating communication of the social and health insurance policies in diverse, flexible, and locally-suitable ways.

According to Lieu, it needed to strengthen inspection and strict handling of violations related to social and health insurance laws.

It was important to fully, promptly, and correctly resolve the social insurance and health insurance policies; strictly manage beneficiaries; innovate methods of service delivery and payment through public services, non-cash payments; enhance measures to prevent abuse and misuse of social and unemployment insurance funds; and strengthen health insurance assessment.

 Viet Nam Social Security’s delegates work with the Steering Committee on implementing social and health insurance policies in Binh Phuoc Province on March 6

It was necessary to promote digital transformation, improve infrastructure and data systems; continue to deploy VssID – digital social insurance application, and carry out Project 06 of the Government on developing and applying the population data and electronic identification and authentication, according to the roadmap and guidance of the provincial People's Committee and Viet Nam Social Security.

He also acknowledged and highly evaluated the results of the social and health insurance policies’ implementation in the province last year.

Reporting at the meeting, Deputy Director Lang Quang Vinh of the Binh Phuoc Social Security Office said that to fulfill the assigned tasks last year, the office had cooperated with functional agencies to perfect the steering committee to implement the social and health insurance policies from the provincial to communal levels; as well as advising on issuing working regulations, assigning tasks to the steering committee’s members.

At the same time, it also proposed the People's Councils at all levels to include social and health insurance coverage targets in local socio-economic development plans, he said.

Thanks to consensus and high efforts, last year, there were 970,443 participants in social and health insurance, an increase of 32,586 compared to the same period last year, reaching 100.4 per cent of the assigned plan.

Specifically, there were 149,961 participants of compulsory social insurance; 15,512 participants of voluntary social insurance; and 141,683 participants of unemployment insurance.

Health insurance coverage reached over 93 per cent of the population; social insurance coverage reached 38 per cent of the labour force in working age, completing the targets assigned by the Provincial People's Council.

Deputy Chairwoman of the provincial People's Committee Tran Tuyet Minh delivers her speech at the meeting on March 6

Late payment rates, evasion of social and health insurance decreased to 0.79 per cent, lower than the target of reducing debts assigned by Viet Nam Social Security.

The provincial social insurance also collected VND3.99 trillion ($161.3 million), an increase of over VND256 billion ($10.3 million) compared to the same period last year, reaching 102.1 per cent of the Viet Nam Social Security’s target.

The province issued 115,975 health insurance cards to people in the average-living-standard agricultural, forestry, and fishery households, and 7,225 health insurance cards to poor households.

Implementing Decree No 75/2023/ND-CP, as of December 31, 2023, the province issued 31,662 health insurance cards, including 30,475 cards for people living in revolutionary base areas during the resistance wars against France and the United States.

The province had mobilised organisations and individuals to contribute money to purchase 14,375 health insurance cards and 1,453 voluntary social insurance books for disadvantaged people with a total value of VND2.15 billion ($87,000).

Deputy General Director Tran Dinh Lieu of Viet Nam Social Security delivers a concluding speech at the meeting

The office had paid totalling over VND2.62 trillion ($106,000) for participants of social and unemployment insurance. Specifically, health insurance payment reached VND489 billion ($19.8 million), a decrease of 7 per cent compared to the same period last year and only accounted for 82 per cent of the Government's budget according to Decision No 877/QD-TTg.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Chairwoman Tran Tuyet Minh of the provincial People's Committee said the provincial steering committee regularly received the attention and direction of the provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, and Viet Nam Social Security.

Especially, the development of social and health insurance participants had been included in the socio-economic development targets of the localities by the People's Councils and People's Committees.

Therefore, it has contributed to spreading and effectively implementing the social and health insurance policies in the province, so that businesses, workers and people increasingly trusted in the policies of the Party and the State, he said.

Based on the orientation of Viet Nam Social Security, Minh told members of the steering committee to flexibly apply policies, mobilise maximum resources to support people in difficult circumstances to participate in social insurance and insurance in the coming time.

Director of Binh Phuoc Social Security Office Nguyen Van Tan said that the office would continue to overcome difficulties and implement a comprehensive range of solutions to fulfill the targets and tasks of this year.