Submit a comment
On the morning of May 9, Hai Duong Provincial Social Insurance organized a program to hand over retirement decisions in May 2024 to 6 voluntary social insurance participants in the province. They were excited to receive their pensions.
Six people received their "pension books" this time in the districts of Tu Ky, Gia Loc, Binh Giang, Cam Giang, Thanh Ha and Chi Linh City. The majority received a pension of over 2 million VND/month.
Ms. Tran Thi Linh, 57 years old, in Tan Viet commune (Thanh Ha), was a former garment worker and had participated in compulsory social insurance for 16 years and 4 months. In December 2023, she reached retirement age and quit her job at the company, but her social insurance payment period was not enough to qualify for a pension. After being advised and counseled by the Thanh Ha District Social Insurance staff, she decided not to pay social insurance at one time but to continue participating in voluntary social insurance. Therefore, in January 2024, she paid for 3 years and 6 months in a row to reach 20 years to be eligible for retirement benefits.
Receiving the decision to receive a pension of more than 2.2 million VND/month, and having a health insurance card to go to the doctor, Ms. Linh was very happy. Ms. Linh said: "The pension is not much, but it will support my monthly expenses when I retire, reducing the burden on my family and children."
Similar to Ms. Linh, Ms. Vu Thi Luyen (born in 1966) in Cam Doai commune (Cam Giang) had 11 years and 5 months of compulsory social insurance contributions before retiring in 2023. With information support from her children, she continued to pay voluntary social insurance to receive a pension of more than 2.4 million VND/month.
“The pension helps me have a stable source of monthly living expenses without having to depend on my children and grandchildren. I am also old, so when I am sick or ill, having health insurance makes me feel more secure when going to the doctor,” Ms. Luyen shared.
Through the program, each citizen who has participated in voluntary social insurance and those who are receiving pensions will be active propagandists, spreading the humanity and superiority of voluntary social insurance policies to relatives, friends, and neighbors at their place of residence. From there, more and more people will grasp information about social insurance policies, actively participate, ensure their own rights, and reduce the burden on their children and grandchildren when they get old.
According to the representative of the provincial Social Insurance, the retirement regime is the core of the social insurance policy, ensuring long-term social security for workers when they reach retirement age. With the desire that more and more people will benefit from the humane policies of the Party and the State, since 2008, the voluntary social insurance policy has been implemented under the direction of the Party Committee and the government, with the active participation of the social insurance agency and other sectors and organizations.
The voluntary social insurance policy is even more meaningful for those who have participated in compulsory social insurance at agencies, units, and enterprises when they reach retirement age but do not have enough time to pay to receive pension. The Social Insurance Agency has advised and helped these people understand that receiving social insurance at one time will be much more disadvantageous than paying more to receive pension.
When participating in voluntary social insurance, people are supported with a contribution rate of 10-40% depending on the subject. The pension level is not fixed at the time of retirement but is periodically adjusted to increase according to the consumer price index and economic growth to ensure life.
From 1995 to the end of 2023, the National Assembly and the Government have adjusted pensions 23 times. After many adjustments, the current pension level of retirees has increased from 21 to 26 times compared to the pension level in 1995. This further demonstrates the Party and State's policy of paying great attention to the income of pensioners.
To date, Hai Duong has 420,702 people participating in social insurance, accounting for 44.74% of the working-age workforce, of which 48,257 people participate in voluntary social insurance. Every month, over 96,500 people receive pensions with a payment of over 447 billion VND. In addition, the Social Insurance agency has paid from hundreds of millions of VND to billions of VND in medical examination and treatment costs for pensioners suffering from serious and incurable diseases. During the pension period, if the beneficiary unfortunately passes away, relatives will also receive a death benefit with many benefits.
With the achieved results, it shows that the voluntary social insurance policy is increasingly affirming its position and role in ensuring social security for the people, towards the goal of universal social insurance of the Party and State.
LINH LINH