In attendance were Director General of Vietnam Social Security (VSS) Nguyen The Manh and Chairman of Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE) Nguyen Thanh Binh; along the leaders of the two sides as well as representative of some relevant units under VSS and VAE.

PHOTO: Director General of VSS Nguyen The Manh delivers remarks at the event

In his opening remarks, Director General of VSS Nguyen The Manh stated that, in line with the spirit of caring for and paying attention to the elderly as advocated by late President Ho Chi Minh of the Party and State, the Vietnam social security industry has always prioritised and focused on promoting and implementing social insurance and health insurance policies for the elderly. Over the past time, social insurance offices at all levels have been proactive and timely in ensuing the resolutoin and full payment of pension and health insurance benefits for the elderly. As of July 2024, over 2.47 million elderly individuals have enrolled in the social insurance system, of which 2.2 million individuals have contributed to the social insurance system and are receiving a monthly pension allowance, averaging VND6 million per person. Additionally, 275,000 individuals are continuing participating in social insurance to qualify for pensions in the near future, and more than 14.6 million elderly people are enrolled in health insurance (accounting for 86.1 per cent of the total aging population. In 2023 alone, nearly 74.4 million elderly people accessed health insurance-based medical examination and treatment services, with total medical expenses amounting to over VND59.4 trillion.

Those outcomes are very positive, however, there are still many elderly people who stay outside the social insurance system, do not have pensions, and nearly 2.4 million elderly people do not have health insurance cards to take care of themselves when they fall sick.

Therefore, based on priorities in implementing social insurance and health insurance policies for the elderly (especially in the context of Vietnam’s rapidly aging population, with the proportion of the elderly likely to increase sharply in number and proportion in the coming years), and full awareness of the important role of Vietnam Association of the Elderly in implementing social security policies for the elderly, VSS general director Nguyen The Manh stated: “VSS is very pleased to sign the co-ordination regulation for the 2024-2025 period with VAE. This is a specific step in materialising the regulation on the results that that two agencies have implemented and cooperated in the past in implementing social insurance and health insurance for the elderly.”

PHOTO: Chairman of VAE Nguyen Thanh Binh takes the floor

Addressing the event, VAE chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh, former member of the Party Central Committee and former deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission, deputy chairman of the National Committee for the Elderly, highly spoke of outstanding achievements the Vietnam social security industry has made, including prominent outcomes in implementing social insurance and health insurance policies for the elderly. He said the signing of the coordination regulation between two bodies results from the cooperation over the past time as well the responsible preparation of relevant units under the two sides.

PHOTO: Leaders of the VSS and VAE sign the co-ordination mechanism

The Coordination Regulation between the two bodies, consisting of three chapters with 15 articles, has concretised the Party’s viewpoint in Resolution No 28 on social insurance reform and Resolution No 20 on strengthening the protection, care and improvement of people’s health in the new situation and the Prime Minister’s viewpoint in Decision No 2156 approving the National Action Programme on the Elderly for the 2021-2030 period. The full implementation of the contents of the Coordination Regulation will contribute to effectively raising awareness of the benefits of social insurance and health insurance policies towards the goals of “Successful aging for all ages – Joining in social insurance and health insurance for a healthy and peaceful old age”, continuing to enhance the role and responsibility of the two agencies in effectively and timely implementing social insurance and health insurance policies.

To ensure the effective implementation of the Coordination Regulation, the leaders of the two agencies are determined to always accompany, support and prioritise the implementation of the Regulation. The two sides will focus on assigning focal units to regularly coordinate, consult and propose the implementation of the contents of the Regulation from the Central to local level, creating a strong influence; strengthening communication on social insurance and health insurance policies for the elderly towards universal social insurance and health insurance, ensuring that the elderly have pensions, social allowances and participate in health insurance system; researching and proposing mechanisms and policies to support the elderly, and at the same time, mobilising social resources and volunteers to support the elderly; prioritising support for the payment and settlement of social insurance and health insurance benefits for the elderly with the fastest, simplest and most convenient procedures./.