Applying the 2015 Penal Code and strengthening inspections and reviews of all outstanding social insurance debts, initial positive signs have emerged thanks to the implementation of this policy in 2018.
The Vietnam Social Security (BHXH Vietnam) has just announced its operational efficiency for the first seven months of 2018. Accordingly, provincial Social Security offices have strengthened administrative procedure improvements; applied information technology to organizational management; and intensified inspections, audits, and reviews to reduce long-standing debts from 2018.
According to statistics up to July 2018, the number of people participating in compulsory social insurance was 13,94 million; voluntary social insurance was 230.000; unemployment insurance was 11,89 million; and health insurance was 81,69 million, accounting for 87,2% of the total population.
Over 55.000 trillion VND was spent on health insurance-covered medical examinations and treatments in the first 7 months of 2018.
Total revenue reached 178.823 billion VND, equivalent to 54,2% of the annual plan;
Processed 69.206 applications for monthly pension and social insurance benefits.
Processed one-time benefit payments for over 456.000 people;
Over 5,7 million people received benefits for sickness, maternity, convalescence, and health recovery.
Over 25.000 billion VND of the state budget was spent on social insurance.
Social insurance has disbursed 173.082 billion VND, reaching 58,79% of the annual plan;
Social Insurance Fund: 87.020 billion VND.
Expenditure from the Unemployment Insurance Fund: 4.452 billion VND
In the coming period, Vietnam Social Security will continue to strengthen the review, inspection, and control of health insurance medical examination and treatment costs to prevent fraud, while also enhancing the inspection of electronic management equipment at all health insurance medical examination and treatment facilities. Simultaneously, it will intensify efforts to strictly handle violations of the law.
Outstanding debt decreased significantly after the implementation of the 2018 policy.
According to Mr. Dao Viet Anh (Deputy General Director of Vietnam Social Security), thanks to the implementation of inspections and the enforcement of the 2015 Penal Code, the recovery of outstanding social insurance debts has seen positive progress. The debt ratio as of the end of July 2016 was only 3,6%, significantly lower than the 5% threshold of previous years.
As of July 2018, inter-agency inspections had covered over 8.000 units. The inspection results regarding social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance contributions revealed that more than 17.786 workers had either not contributed or had contributed for insufficient periods. The total outstanding debt amounted to 45 billion VND. However, among these, 553 workers had contributed for excessive periods or were not eligible, resulting in a refund of 1,8 billion VND.
The total amount owed by the inspected entities was 1.146 billion VND, and during the inspection period, these entities paid over 475 billion VND. After the conclusion of the inspection, these entities paid an additional 186 billion VND. Violation reports were also drawn up during the inspection.Out of 407 units, 364 administrative penalty decisions were issued with a total fine of 11,2 billion VND. Only 2,8 billion VND has been collected so far.
According to Mr. Mai Duc Thang (Deputy Head of the Social Insurance Collection Department of Vietnam), the agency has applied many methods to recover outstanding debts, such as urging employers to pay, and collecting immediately when a unit shows signs of late payment. This is followed by inspections, audits, and penalties, combined with publicly disclosing the identities of businesses owing social insurance contributions.
Since late 2017 and early 2018, with the 2015 Penal Code coming into effect and adding offenses related to the misappropriation of social insurance funds (Articles 214, 215, and 216), the awareness of employers has improved. Currently, the maximum prison sentence for this offense is 7 years, and the maximum fine is up to 1 billion VND. This is a decisive and effective solution. www.expertis.vn
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