Nghe An Social Insurance is constantly innovating and developing.

(Baonghean) - Social insurance is one of the major policies of the Party and the State. After 20 years of construction, reform, and development, along with the Vietnam Social Insurance system, the Nghe An Provincial Social Insurance agency has made many noteworthy achievements. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the agency (February 16, 1995 - February 16, 2015), a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Tran Quoc Toan - Director of the Nghe An Provincial Social Insurance agency.

The provincial social insurance agency provided financial support for investment in a livestock farming model in Huu Kiem commune (Ky Son district).

PV:Could you please tell us what the goals have been for the past 20 years in fulfilling its functions and duties?

Mr. Tran Quoc Toan:Immediately after the establishment of Vietnam Social Security, along with the social security systems of provinces and cities, on June 15, 1995, the Director General of Vietnam Social Security issued Decision No. 16/QD/BHXH-TCCB establishing Nghe An Social Security, with the basic task of managing the collection and disbursement of social insurance benefits in the province. Since 2003, Nghe An Social Security has taken over the task of implementing health insurance policies.

In accordance with Decision No. 41/2009/QD-TTg dated March 30, 2009, of the Prime Minister and the directives of the Vietnam Social Security on the conversion of Nghe An's farmers' social insurance to voluntary social insurance, Nghe An Social Security officially took over the Nghe An farmers' social insurance from October 2009.

Over the past 20 years, Nghe An Social Insurance has consistently focused on the following goals: Gradually expanding and rapidly increasing the number of participants and beneficiaries of social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance across all economic sectors; ensuring equality of rights and obligations for all in participating in and benefiting from social insurance and unemployment insurance; and fairness in health insurance-covered medical examinations and treatments; organizing the collection of social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance contributions, strictly managing revenue sources, and promptly transferring collected funds to Vietnam Social Insurance to form a centralized fund; ensuring timely and accurate payment of social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance benefits to the correct beneficiaries; ensuring the security of cash during the payment process; combating abuse of the health insurance fund for medical examinations and treatments; and gradually facilitating access to social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance benefits. Simultaneously carrying out its tasks and building and strengthening the specialized organizational structure of the sector. Continuously improve the professional competence, political understanding, and sense of responsibility of officials and employees in the sector to serve the public, and enhance the efficiency of the management system. Promote administrative reform and modernize working facilities to meet the ever-increasing demands of the job.

PV:Could you tell us about the key milestones of the industry over the past 20 years?

Mr. Tran Quoc Toan:Since its establishment, under the direct leadership and guidance of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Vietnam Social Security, and with the effective coordination of all levels and sectors, Nghe An Social Security has strived to overcome numerous difficulties, asserted itself, and continuously grown stronger, meeting the trust of the local Party committee, government, and a large number of participants and beneficiaries of social insurance and health insurance schemes in the province.

Firstly: Timely and proper handling of policies and regulations for workers and those participating in social insurance and health insurance; making a significant contribution to economic and social development, social security stability, and poverty reduction in the province.

Secondly: Regularly expanding the scope and rapidly increasing the number of people participating in social insurance and health insurance contributes to implementing the Party and State's policy on ensuring equal rights for workers in all economic sectors, expanding the coverage of social insurance and health insurance to all classes and segments of the population, aiming towards a safe, fair, democratic, and civilized society.

Third: Innovate working styles and methods, proactively resolve difficulties and obstacles in organizing and implementing social insurance and health insurance policies. Fourth: Gradually improve the organization, enhance management and operational capacity, and organize the implementation of social insurance and health insurance policies; strengthen infrastructure, apply information technology, and gradually meet the requirements of social insurance and health insurance in the province; moving towards building a modern, professional, and highly efficient social insurance and health insurance system that meets the requirements of industrialization, modernization, and international integration. With the achievements over the past 20 years, the Provincial Social Insurance Agency has been honored twice with the Third-Class Labor Medal from the President (in 2002 and 2007) and the Second-Class Labor Medal (2008-2012), a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister, and the Excellent Emulation Flag from the Government, Vietnam Social Insurance, and the Provincial People's Committee. The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee awarded Certificates of Merit for outstanding achievements in 10 years of implementing Directive 30-CT/TW, Certificates of Merit for exemplary achievements in 2 years of implementing the "Studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh" campaign... and many other prestigious awards.

Customers conducting transactions at the Nghe An Social Insurance office.

PV:To achieve those results, what specific solutions has the industry implemented, sir?

Mr. Tran Quoc Toan:Identifying the human factor is crucial. Therefore, over the past 20 years, the organizational structure and staff of the Social Insurance sector have continuously strived and gradually matured. At the time of its establishment, the Provincial Social Insurance had 24 subordinate units, including 5 professional departments and 19 district/city/town Social Insurance offices, with 43 officials and employees. Currently, the Provincial Social Insurance has 31 subordinate units, including 10 professional departments and 21 district/city/town Social Insurance offices, with 576 officials and employees. Of these, 12 hold master's degrees, 454 hold bachelor's degrees, 19 hold college degrees, and 91 hold vocational degrees. Most key officials in the sector have intermediate or advanced political theory qualifications. Over 85% of officials and employees have received training in state management knowledge at the specialist level.

Every year, the provincial Social Insurance agency organizes numerous training courses to improve the capacity, skills, and communication abilities in handling social insurance and health insurance claims. In addition, the provincial Social Insurance agency has made a significant shift in its working style from administrative to service-oriented, aiming for the satisfaction of the people participating in and benefiting from social insurance and health insurance as its main goal. Along with improving the quality of its staff, over the past 20 years, the agency has continuously invested in infrastructure and equipment, strongly applying information technology and management science to its tasks, such as: focusing on deploying software for managing collection, issuing social insurance books and health insurance cards; reviewing social insurance benefits; managing beneficiaries of social insurance; statistically analyzing health insurance medical expenses and accounting software; developing and effectively implementing software for reviewing records; developing software for searching information on issuing health insurance cards for children; and software for handling duplicate health insurance cards. In particular, after a period of research, in September 2014, the Provincial Social Insurance Agency completed the development of a lookup utility on the Provincial Social Insurance Agency's website. This utility helps the Social Insurance Agency save on printing costs, time, and effort; employees can proactively look up information anytime, anywhere about their participation in social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance.

PV:Building upon the achievements of the past 20 years, what tasks should the sector focus on in the coming period, sir?

Mr. Tran Quoc Toan:The 13th National Assembly recently passed the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Health Insurance Law, with many new points increasing the attractiveness of the health insurance policy. The action theme, "Promoting the process of expanding health insurance coverage, towards universal health insurance," has been identified as a central and overarching task not only for the Social Insurance and Health sectors but also for the entire political system in successfully implementing Resolution 21/NQ-TW of the Politburo, as well as the plan for implementing the roadmap for universal health insurance in the 2012-2015 and 2020 periods. Immediately after the law was passed by the National Assembly, based on guiding documents from relevant ministries and sectors and Vietnam Social Insurance, the provincial Social Insurance agency issued Plan No. 21/KH-BHXH dated January 7, 2015, on the implementation of the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Health Insurance Law.

Accordingly, the Provincial Social Insurance Agency requested its professional departments and the Social Insurance agencies of districts, cities, and towns to implement the law most effectively based on the plan. At the same time, the Provincial Social Insurance Agency also issued a decision to establish a standing team to resolve difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of this law. In addition, at medical examination and treatment facilities, inspectors intensified their efforts to closely monitor and resolve issues arising during the transition period at the beginning of 2015 to ensure timely, consistent, and compliant implementation of the law, without affecting people's participation in health insurance or the operation of health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment services. At the same time, the provincial Social Insurance agency is actively preparing the necessary conditions to implement the amended Social Insurance Law, which was passed by the National Assembly at its 8th session, 13th term, and came into effect on January 1, 2016. This law includes several amendments aimed at ensuring fairness and equality for participants, guaranteeing people's social security rights, and supplementing certain benefits to better ensure the rights of workers.

PV:Thank you, sir!

Thanh Thuy

(Perform)