(Source: Internet)

On April 23, the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee convened its 8th plenary session. At the session, delegates discussed and questioned officials on the implementation of social insurance regime and policies and the management and use of the social insurance fund in 2017. Issues related to voluntary social insurance were on the session’s agenda.

According to the report of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), more than 227,000 people took part in voluntary social insurance in 2017, up 11.59 percent against 2016, but accounting for only 61 percent of the target set for 2017.

Bui Sy Loi, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, said that a fundamental problem in the implementation of the Law on Social Insurance is the slow expansion of voluntary social insurance coverage. Through this it can be seen that voluntary social insurance is not attractive to workers. However, the point is which agencies are responsible for the slow growth and what is the solution.

Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, noted that the number of voluntary social insurance participants felt short of target in the recent time, saying without stronger political will, the failure will persist.

According to the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, current communications work for informal workers, and people who have yet to join voluntary social insurance, is not sufficient. According to a survey by the Institute of Labour and Social Science, up to 70 percent of respondents, especially people from rural and mountainous areas, do not know about voluntary social insurance.

Voluntary social insurance policy has been designed to optimise benefits for participants, but is not attractive for labourers with low income. Minimum payment duration for pension is long (20 years); State subsidies remain low; policy implementation lacks breakthrough solutions in approaching and persuading potential participants.

In addition, administrative reform in social insurance sector, despite progress, has yet to provide convenient information access and registration for people. Methods for transaction, registration and premium payment are not diversified and convenient.

According to Dao Ngoc Dung, to expand the coverage, it is necessary to reduce the social insurance payment duration in order to be eligible for pension, and to raise the level of support for people participating in voluntary social insurance. In particular, it is necessary to combine benefits of voluntary social insurance with other incentives of the State, such as preferential loans for voluntary social insurance participants who want to set up their own production and business.

The application of information technology is also a must along with the implementation of voluntary social insurance premium collection and insurance payment via banks, and the expansion of the network of service providers in order to create the most convenient conditions for people to participate in voluntary social insurance.