Voluntary social insurance attracts more participants hinh anh 1People registering for social insurance (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) –
As many as 606,000 people had joined voluntary social insurance as of May 31 this year, completing half of the set target and up 26,000 compared with the figure of 2019, heard a meeting in Hanoi on June 9.

Meanwhile, the number of compulsory social insurance participants stood at over 14.4 million, fulfilling only 89.8 percent of the target, and a drop of 796,000 from the previous year.

More than 85 million people were covered by health insurance during the reviewed period, accomplishing 96.6 percent of the target and down 849,000 against 2019.

According to Dao Viet Anh, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Social Security (VSS), the decreases in compulsory social insurance and health insurance coverage are attributable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many firms have to scale down their production and business, resulting in workers losing jobs or having income reduced and hence ceasing participation in insurance.

Anh said the VSS has promptly and drastically adopted solutions such as allowing epidemic-hit firms to delay the contribution of social insurance to the pension fund, paying unemployment insurance benefits for labourers who have been rendered jobless by the pandemic and ensuring medical check-up and treatment for those with health insurance./.
VNA