School accountant disciplined for 'forgetting' to pay health insurance for students

On January 26, Mr. Vo Trong Ky - Principal of Thanh Ha Primary School (Thanh Chuong) said that the school's Disciplinary Council had just met and decided to reprimand Mr. Vo Dinh Thang - the school's accountant. Mr. Thang was held responsible for collecting insurance money from students but not submitting it to Thanh Chuong District Social Insurance to issue health insurance cards for students.

In addition to being disciplined, Mr. Thang must also be responsible for remedying the consequences by paying for the student's medical examination and treatment costs because the student did not have health insurance and was not covered by the insurance.

Previously, a parent whose son is in 3rd grade at Thanh Ha Primary School posted on social media that his son did not have a health insurance card even though he had paid in full. This parent said that in mid-January, her son was not feeling well so her family took him to the District Health Center for a check-up. When paying, she learned that for the past 2 years, her son had not been covered by the school's health insurance, even though the parents had paid.

The family then contacted the school and received the answer "bring the medical records back to the school to pay". It is worth mentioning that this is the second time this parent has encountered a similar situation.

After receiving the feedback, on January 17, the school accountant brought the money to Thanh Chuong District Social Insurance to pay. Accordingly, the total number of students whose health insurance premiums were delayed by the school was up to 232, with a total amount of more than 150 million VND.

According to Mr. Vo Trong Ky, after receiving feedback from parents, the school and the People's Committee of Thanh Ha commune organized an inspection to clarify the responsibilities of individuals. The school's report stated that, "Mr. Vo Dinh Thang was irresponsible in collecting insurance money from students without timely submitting it to the District Social Insurance, affecting the school's reputation and causing people to lose confidence in the school. The amount of health insurance collected from 232 students, with more than 150 million VND, was transferred from the homeroom teacher to Mr. Thang before December 31, 2023, but it was not until January 17, 2024 that the amount was submitted to the District Social Insurance".

In the case that the parent reported, the documents show that the parent paid the money from April 2023.

Mr. Thang explained that "the insurance money was collected from homeroom teachers since December, but due to a family incident, it was not submitted to the district Social Insurance in time because it was not yet possible to make a specific list of children who were granted health insurance cards, leading to parents taking their children to the doctor without cards and having complaints."

"Mr. Vo Dinh Thang's actions are against regulations; he had encountered this incident in 2022. The school principal and the commune People's Committee Chairman had reminded him but he still had not learned his lesson," Thanh Ha Primary School's report stated.

This report also stated that the Principal had repeatedly reminded the accounting officer, Mr. Vo Dinh Thang, to pay the student insurance premiums to the district on time, but had not checked specifically, closely, and had not issued a document urging the staff to complete the task.

Discussing this incident, Mr. Tran Xuan Ha - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Thanh Chuong district said that after the parents' feedback, the department also asked the school to report. "Receiving money without submitting it to the Social Insurance in time is completely wrong. However, after investigating, I concluded that this error was due to lack of expertise and lack of responsibility in work. The school's accountant cannot recklessly take advantage of this situation," Mr. Ha said and said that the school's accountant will be replaced soon.