Addressing social welfare challenges to build people-centered city

Recently, a supervisory delegation from the Social Security Management Council met with the Dong Nai City People’s Committee to review the implementation of policies and laws on social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI) and unemployment insurance (UI) from 2024 through August 2026.

Challenges, obstacles and key solutions

Health insurance covers substantial medical expenses for many participants. Photo: Hanh Dung.

Reporting at the meeting, Pham Minh Thanh, Director of Dong Nai Social Security, said the locality had achieved positive results in maintaining and expanding social security coverage.

By the end of 2025, HI coverage had reached 95% of the population, SI coverage stood at 52%, and UI covered 46% of the working-age labor force. These figures continued to improve during the first eight months of 2026. Revenue collection, benefit payment management and implementation of Resolution No. 36/2025/NQ-HDND, issued by the city’s People’s Council to support HI cards and voluntary SI premiums for vulnerable groups and grassroots public security and order personnel, had remained stable.

However, practical implementation has revealed numerous systemic barriers and challenges specific to the locality. The biggest current obstacle is maintaining sustainable HI coverage amid fluctuating incomes among farming, forestry and fishery households, as well as adjustments to ethnic minority policies. The formulation of a mechanism to support voluntary SI premiums for the 2026–2030 period has yet to be implemented because of difficulties in balancing the local budget.

Meanwhile, prolonged payment delays and outstanding SI debts remain a complicated problem. As of September 2026, 26 units had persistent, localized delays in making SI payments, with outstanding debts totaling VND145.6 billion. Just three major units accounted for 85.2% of the total outstanding debts. Substantial overdue premiums also remain at units that have ceased operations, no longer operate at their registered addresses, lack legal representatives, or have been dissolved or declared bankrupt. As of September 2026, 649 units still owed more than VND143.5 billion. Organizations that no longer operated at their registered addresses and those without legal representatives accounted for 77.3% of this amount.

Another major challenge is the sharp increase in HI-funded medical expenses. In the first nine months of 2026 alone, 29 healthcare facilities spent more than 100% of their allocated budgets, including six facilities whose spending exceeded 200% of their allocations.

To address these bottlenecks, the Dong Nai City People’s Committee has identified several key priorities. These include assigning specific targets and responsibilities to the steering committees in all 95 communes and wards, and strengthening inter-agency coordination among the police, tax authorities, labor authorities and social security agencies to identify and handle units that evade or delay payment.

The city has asked the Ministry of Finance and Vietnam Social Security to issue detailed guidance as soon as possible on process for handling debts that cannot be recovered from bankrupt or dissolved enterprises, in order to protect workers’ rights. It has also proposed that the Ministry of Health and Vietnam Social Security establish consistent process for reviewing and settling medical expenses that exceed budget allocations, while promoting the use of electronic documentation. In particular, the city has urged the Government to direct ministries and sectors to accelerate data connectivity and sharing among the National Insurance Database and databases covering population, labor, taxation, businesses and healthcare through shared platforms. This would establish a database that is accurate, complete, clean and continuously updated, supporting effective administration and encouraging participation in social security programs.

Ensuring social security and building a people-centered city

The Social Security Management Council’s supervisory delegation poses for a commemorative photograph with Nguyen Thi Hoang, Member of the Dong Nai City Party Committee, Vice Chairwoman of the City People’s Committee (sixth from the right), and leaders of relevant departments and agencies. Photo: Hanh Dung.

Speaking at the meeting, Ngo Duy Hieu, Standing Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Member of the Social Security Management Council, Head of the supervisory delegation, acknowledged and praised Dong Nai City’s substantial efforts in implementing SI, HI and UI policies in recent years.

Hieu emphasized that Dong Nai ranks fourth nationwide in state budget revenue and third in average per capita income, while also being home to a very large migrant workforce. Caring for workforce, therefore, is not merely a routine state management responsibility; it is also a social obligation and a way of expressing gratitude to those who directly contribute to production and local economic development. The development of social welfare, he said, is one of the most important measures of urban civilization and human development, fully aligned with Dong Nai’s goal of becoming a people-centered city.

Given several figures requiring particular attention—including more than 50,800 people who withdrew their lump-sum SI benefits in 2025 and another 33,900 in the first eight months of 2026, along with total delayed payment of SI premiums exceeding VND 585 billion—the delegation head urged the locality not to be complacent.

Analyzing solutions for handling outstanding SI debts, Hieu shared practical experience from other localities with comparable levels of industrial development. Specifically, the city should strengthen dialogue and coordination among Social Security agencies, the police, the People’s Procuracy and other relevant authorities, and directly summon units with outstanding tax or insurance payments to work with them. Practical experience shows that direct engagement and persuasion, combined with strict legal deterrence, can help recover up to 70% of prolongeed debts. At the same time, authorities should actively apply administrative sanctions that can serve as a basis for establishing criminal liability under Article 216 of the Penal Code, which addresses evasion of SI payment. They should also intensify preventive measures, such as temporarily postponing exit from Vietnam for business owners who deliberately refuse to fulfil their obligations.

Regarding HI-funded medical care, the Head of the delegation called on the health sector and Dong Nai Social Security to conduct comprehensive reviews to identify problems and thoroughly prevent abuse and fraudulent claims against the insurance fund, while ensuring patients’ rights and maintaining the highest possible quality of service.

To expand participation in social security programs, the locality should fundamentally reform its communication and outreach methods, clearly segmenting the population according to different attitudes and motivations so that engagement strategies can be tailored and more persuasive. Rather than relying on generic messaging, authorities should help residents understand the long-term value of the state social security system compared with commercial insurance products.

Ngo Duy Hieu, Head of the Social Security Management Council’s supervisory delegation, urged the Dong Nai City Party Committee, People’s Council and People’s Committee to continue prioritizing resources and place SI, HI and UI targets at the center of socioeconomic development programs. He also called for stronger digital transformation under Project 06, with the goal of providing the best possible support for residents and workers throughout the city.

By Hanh Dung - Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha