Publication: Expanding Coverage in Vietnam’s Voluntary Social Insurance Scheme: Insights and Recommendations
Loading...
Published
2025-03-05
ISSN
Date
2025-03-05
Editor(s)
Abstract
Vietnam has witnessed impressive economic growth in recent decades, but it continues to have a large share of its workers in the informal sector. The lack of a labor contract for workers in the informal economy excludes them from payroll financed mandatory social insurance (SI) coverage. Among lifecycle risks an individual faces, Vietnam has successfully extended health insurance coverage to those in the informal sector, but similar results have not been replicated for pensions and other short-term benefits. International experience on expanding pension coverage in voluntary schemes suggests that innovation in design, delivery, and incentives is still needed. Vietnam has set a bold target under Resolution 28, of attaining contributor coverage of 60 percent of the labor force and beneficiary coverage of 60 percent of older adults by 2030. The voluntary SI scheme (VSIF) introduced in the 2006 SI Law and implemented from January 1st, 2008, is targeted towards Vietnamese citizens aged 15 years or older who are not eligible to participate in compulsory SI. Expanding coverage in the voluntary scheme will require a multi-stakeholder strategy encompassing the effective use of fiscal incentives, innovation in program design, and strengthening administration as well as service delivery aspects. Section 1 of this report includes an overview of the voluntary pension scheme including institutional arrangements and recent legislative and administrative changes. Section 2 covers the results of the delivery chain assessment while section 3 includes findings of the voluntary scheme desirability survey (VSDS) of 900 individuals across three provinces carried out to understand respondents’ awareness and perception of the scheme and their preferences for alternate design options in the VSIF. Section 4 concludes with recommendations for improvement to design, delivery, and incentives in the scheme with the aim of informing the 2024 SI law revision and aiding the coverage expansion efforts.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Jain, Himanshi; Nguyen, Nga Thi; Yeachuri, Agastya; Ha, Pham Bao; De, Koustav. 2025. Expanding Coverage in Vietnam’s Voluntary Social Insurance Scheme: Insights and Recommendations. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42915 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Expanding Social Insurance Coverage in Urban China(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-06)This paper first reviews the history of social insurance policy and coverage in urban China, documenting the evolution in the coverage of pensions and medical and unemployment insurance for both local residents and migrants, and highlighting obstacles to expanding coverage. The paper then uses two waves of the China Urban Labor Survey, conducted in 2005 and 2010, to examine the correlates of social insurance participation before and after implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law. A higher labor tax wedge is associated with a lower probability that local employed residents participate in social insurance programs, but is not associated with participation of wage-earning migrants, who are more likely to be dissuaded by fragmentation of the social insurance system. The existing gender gap in social insurance coverage is explained by differences in coverage across industrial sectors and firm ownership classes in which men and women work.Publication Effects of Interventions to Raise Voluntary Enrollment in a Social Health Insurance Scheme : A Cluster Randomized Trial(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05)A cluster randomized controlled trial was undertaken, testing two sets of interventions to encourage enrollment in the Philippines' Individual Payer Program. Of 243 municipalities, 179 were randomly assigned as intervention sites and 64 as controls. In early 2011, 2,950 families were interviewed; unenrolled Individual Payer Program-eligible families in intervention sites were given an information kit and a 50 percent premium subsidy until the end of 2011. In February 2012, the "non-compliers" had their voucher extended, were re-sent the enrollment kit, and received Short Message Service (SMS) reminders. Half were told that in the upcoming end-line interview the enumerator could help complete the enrollment form, deliver it to the insurer, and have identification cards mailed. The control and intervention sites were balanced at baseline. In the control sites, 9.9 percent (32/323) of eligible individuals had enrolled by January 2012, compared with 14.9 percent (119/801) in intervention sites. In the sub-experiment, enrollment was 3.4 percent (10/290) among eligible non-compliers and who did not receive assistance but 39.7 percent (124/312) among those who did. A premium subsidy combined with information can increase voluntary enrollment in a social health insurance program, but less than an intervention that reduces the enrollment burden; even that leaves enrollment below 50 percent.Publication Moving toward Universal Coverage of Social Health Insurance in Vietnam : Assessment and Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-06-26)To address the growth in resultant out-of-pocket (OOP) payments and associated problems of financial barriers to access, the government issued several policies aimed at expanding coverage throughout the 1990s and 2000s, particularly for the poor and other vulnerable groups. Universal coverage (UC) can be an elusive concept and is about three objectives: (a) equity (linking care to need, and not to ability to pay); (b) financial protection (ensuring that health care use does not lead to impoverishment); (c) effective access to a comprehensive set of quality services (ensuring that providers make the right diagnosis and prescribe a treatment that is appropriate and affordable; and (d) to ensure that the financing needed to achieve UC is mobilized in a fiscally sustainable manner, and is used efficiently and equitably. The objective of this report is to assess the implementation of Vietnam social health insurance (SHI) and provide options for moving toward UC, with a view to contributing to the law revision process. It analyzes progress to date on the two major goals of the master plan. The report assesses Vietnam's readiness to meet these goals, the challenges it will face in achieving UC, and key reforms needed to overcome those challenges. It does so through a health financing lens, focusing on how resources are mobilized, pooled, and allocated, and how services are purchased. The report also examines the stewardship of financing that is, the organization, management, and governance of SHI as it has direct implications for achieving UC. The report ends by pulling together the recommendations in the form of an implementation road map.Publication Achieving Universal Health Coverage through Voluntary Insurance(BioMed Central, 2013-12-17)The Government of Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has embarked on a path to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) through implementation of four risk-protection schemes. One of these schemes is community-based health insurance (CBHI) – a voluntary scheme that targets roughly half the population. However, after 12 years of implementation, coverage through CBHI remains very low. Increasing coverage of the scheme would require expansion to households in both villages where CBHI is currently operating, and new geographic areas. In this study we explore the prospects of both types of expansion by examining household and district level data.Publication Ethnic Minority Poverty in Vietnam(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-05-15)Although economic reform has brought remarkable progress in poverty reduction in Vietnam, the scale and depth of ethnic minority poverty in Vietnam presents one of the major challenges to achieving the targets for poverty reduction set out in the Socio-Economic Development Plan, as well as the millennium development goals. The authors first review a series of monetary and non-monetary indicators which show the living standards of the ethnic minorities are improving but still lag seriously behind those of the majority Kinh-Hoa. The minorities' lower living standards result from the complex interplay of overlapping disadvantages, which start in utero and continue until adult life. Next an analysis of the drivers of the ethnic gap, in terms of both differences in characteristics and differences in returns to those characteristics, is undertaken. Mean and quantile decompositions show that at least a half of the gap in per capita expenditure can be attributed to the lower returns to characteristics that the ethnic minorities receive. The reasons underlying such differences in returns are discussed, drawing on both quantitative analysis and the large number of qualitative studies on ethnic issues in Vietnam. Finally, some of the short and longer term policy measures which the authors believe could help to counter ethnic disadvantages in the nutrition, education, and employment sectors are discussed. The authors also emphasize the importance of promoting growth that is geographically broad and socially inclusive without which, the current disparities between the Kinh-Hoa and the ethnic minorities will continue to grow.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23)Business dynamism and economic growth in Europe and Central Asia have weakened since the late 2000s, with productivity growth driven largely by resource reallocation between firms and sectors rather than innovation. To move up the value chain, countries need to facilitate technology adoption, stronger domestic competition, and firm-level innovation to build a more dynamic private sector. Governments should move beyond broad support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and focus on enabling the most productive firms to expand and compete globally. Strengthening competition policies, reducing the presence of state-owned enterprises, and ensuring fair market access are crucial. Limited availability of long-term financing and risk capital hinders firm growth and innovation. Economic disruptions are a shock in the short term, but they provide an opportunity for implementing enterprise and structural reforms, all of which are essential for creating better-paying jobs and helping countries in the region to achieve high-income status.Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.