Seeking feedback on the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended)

(Baonghean.vn) -On the afternoon of May 13th, the Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Nghe An province and the Provincial Social Insurance Agency held a conference to gather feedback on the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended) and amendments and supplements to several articles of the Law on Health Insurance. The conference was attended by Mr. Phan Trung Ly - Member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee. Mr. Pham Van Tan - Provincial Party Committee Member, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province, presided over the meeting.

Mr. Phan Trung Ly, Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, delivered a speech at the conference.

At the meeting, representatives from the provincial Social Insurance agency reported on the current situation regarding the collection and payment of social insurance contributions. According to the report, only about 2,830 out of 6,038 businesses in the province participate in social insurance; and approximately 185,000 out of 252,000 workers are subject to mandatory social insurance participation. Many businesses sign labor contracts with minimum wage levels or sign two contracts and register with the social insurance agency using the lower-paying contract, creating inequality among businesses and resulting in revenue losses for the social insurance fund. The situation of outstanding debts is increasing; as of April 2014, the total amount of outstanding social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance contributions exceeded 288 billion VND. Many businesses have long-standing social insurance debts with large sums, affecting the rights of workers. The Social Insurance agency has actively coordinated with relevant agencies to conduct inspections and audits; while some results have been achieved, overall, many limitations remain.

The provincial Social Insurance agency proposed amendments and additions to the Draft Law on Social Insurance regarding the functions of specialized inspection and the authority to handle violations of social insurance laws; administrative costs; expanding the scope of compulsory and voluntary social insurance participation; revising the retirement age and social insurance contribution levels to balance the pension and death benefit fund; and adding benefits for social insurance participants. In addition, it provided input on amending several contents in the Draft Law on Health Insurance, such as the development and expansion of participation; the scope of health insurance benefits; and the management, allocation, and use of the health insurance fund.

Mr. Tran Quoc Chung, Deputy Head of the Economic and Budget Committee of the Provincial People's Council, participated in the discussion and offered his comments.

Many delegates frankly offered their opinions on the draft Social Insurance Law, paying particular attention to the issue of amending the retirement age and its implementation roadmap. Delegates argued that raising the retirement age was illogical in the law-making process because the recently passed Labor Law already clearly stipulates the retirement age; they asserted that raising the retirement age would generate opposition from workers. Furthermore, citing specific examples, delegates also suggested that to avoid the predicted collapse of the social insurance fund, other necessary measures should be implemented, such as ensuring accurate and complete collection of contributions and combating social insurance arrears. The Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, Mr. Phan Trung Ly, suggested that the draft Social Insurance Law should not include the retirement age regulation as it is already stipulated in the Labor Law. Instead, he proposed considering detailed regulations on contribution levels and the duration of social insurance benefits. I agree with the proposal to consider assigning specialized inspection functions and linking inspection tasks to professional staff of social insurance agencies...

Concluding the conference, the Head of the National Assembly Delegation, Mr. Pham Van Tan, affirmed that amending the Social Insurance Law is absolutely necessary. The Provincial National Assembly Delegation agreed with the proposal to add specialized inspection functions to the Social Insurance agency; and regarding the costs of managing the administrative apparatus. The remaining proposals raised by the Provincial Social Insurance agency at the conference were also considered.

Nhat Lan