(Source: Viet Nam Social Security)

Deputy Minister and Director General of the Viet Nam Social Security (VSS) Nguyen Thi Minh chaired a meeting in Hanoi on November 8 to review the sector’s activities in the first ten months of the year.

VSS Deputy Directors General Nguyen Minh Thao, Nguyen Dinh Khuong, Tran Dinh Lieu and Dao Viet Anh also attended the event.

Reporting on the sector’s 10-month activities, VSS Office Chief Chu Manh Sinh said as of October 31, 13.21 million people participated compulsory social insurance, 11.4 million had unemployment insurance and 220,000 had voluntary social insurance. As many as 79.93 million people owned health insurance cards, accounting for 85.3 percent of the total population.

The sector collected total social, health and unemployment insurance premiums of over 227 trillion VND, or 80.2 percent of the yearly target, up 14.9 percent year-on-year. Localities with high premium collection included Dong Nai (82.6 percent), Hanoi (80.3 percent), Ho Chi Minh City (79.7 percent), and Binh Duong (79.6 percent)

Up to 111,731 people enjoyed monthly social insurance payment, up 18.7 percent comparing to last year’s number while 603,076 people received one-time lumpsum payments, making a 18.5 percent increase. Nearly 7.36 million people on sick or maternity leave received financial assistance from insurance, up to 52 percent, while about 90 million people underwent medical check-up transactions with health insurance cards.

By late October, 13.4 million people were granted social insurance books, or 99.2 percent of the total. The number of issued health insurance cards reached 79.5 million.

Last month, the VSS worked with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, ministries and agencies concerned to refine the draft decree on dealing with social, health and unemployment insurance premium debts. The Health Ministry completed draft guidelines on health check-ups and treatment under health insurance policy, such as a circular on basic medical packages for health stations at the grassroots level and a circular guiding management and treatment of HIV patients.

Campaigns to raise public awareness of social and health insurance continued to be stepped up. Issues of public concern have been promptly explained by the VSS. Administrative reform and technological application achieved positive results.

(Source: Viet Nam Social Security)

The VSS municipal and provincial chapters reviewed the issuance of social and health insurance cards, inspected social and health insurance payment, and controlled health check-up and treatment costs under health insurance in medical stations.                                                                            

Problems include the collection of firms’ social and health insurance debts, access to bank loans to pay social and health insurance debts and inspections on social and health insurance payments.

Concluding the event, the Director General of Viet Nam Social Security Minh asked units to finish 2017’s tasks, including upholding the role and responsibility of their chiefs.

The information technology (IT) centres were required to work with professional agencies to fully tap IT features, build and strengthen software system to monitor debts, and ensure security of the entire IT system.

International Cooperation Department