With the goal of "leaving no one behind," on July 15th, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Son La province, Hoang Quoc Khanh, sent an open letter to agencies, units, and People's Committees at all levels in the province requesting financial support to purchase and donate health insurance cards to people in difficult circumstances.

According to a report from the Son La Social Insurance Agency, thanks to the attention and involvement of the entire political system, social insurance and health insurance work in Son La has seen many positive changes. Accordingly, by the end of 2023, the province had 1,278,316 people participating in health insurance, achieving a coverage rate of 98.3% of the population, exceeding the targets set by the Prime Minister and the Resolution of the Provincial Party Congress. However, entering 2024, the number of participants decreased because many people in difficult circumstances in communes, wards, and towns in Zone I and communes that have achieved new rural standards no longer receive state and provincial support for purchasing health insurance cards.

Mr. Dinh Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Provincial Social Insurance Agency, delivered a speech at the card presentation ceremony.

"By July 2024, Son La province had 1,251,911 people participating in health insurance, achieving a coverage rate of 95.3% of the population. Thus, there are still over 60,000 people without health insurance cards, many of whom are disadvantaged or have recently escaped poverty...", according to a report from the Son La Social Insurance agency.

Based on this reality, on July 15, 2024, Mr. Hoang Quoc Khanh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Son La province, sent an open letter to agencies, units, and People's Committees at all levels in the province, requesting support in funding the purchase and donation of health insurance cards to people in difficult circumstances. In the open letter, Mr. Hoang Quoc Khanh emphasized that sharing love is a humane and compassionate act, a tradition of "mutual support and compassion" of the Vietnamese people. Therefore, to ensure that more people are protected by the social security system and have their medical examination and treatment costs covered by the health insurance fund, the leaders of Son La province called on the generosity of units, businesses, and philanthropists to join hands in contributing; especially urging each official to donate at least one health insurance card to people in difficult circumstances.

Local authorities receive donations from organizations and benefactors to help purchase health insurance cards.

"The People's Committee of Son La province believes that, with the joint efforts of the community, the people who receive support will have more motivation to rise above their circumstances and continue to sow seeds of compassion in life," the open letter stated.

Immediately after the open letter was sent out, the fundraising campaign to purchase health insurance cards for people in difficult circumstances spread widely, receiving enthusiastic support from agencies, units, businesses, localities, and people throughout the province.

As the unit directly advising the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee on issuing an open letter calling for the purchase of health insurance cards to donate to people in difficult circumstances, Mr. Thieu Quang Ngai, Director of the Son La Provincial Social Insurance Agency, said that this is one of the initiatives of the Provincial Social Insurance Agency to strive to achieve the target of 96.1% of the population participating in health insurance. At the same time, it aims to create consensus among the entire political system and the people in implementing social security policies in the locality.

According to Mr. Ngai, in light of the declining health insurance participation rate due to policy impacts, the Son La Provincial Social Insurance Agency has implemented many fundamental and long-term solutions. These include advising the Provincial Steering Committee for Social Insurance and Health Insurance Policy Implementation to direct the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to take the lead and coordinate with the People's Committees of districts and cities to research sanctions and guidelines for incorporating health insurance laws into the regulations and customs of villages and hamlets, emphasizing the responsibility of all citizens to participate in health insurance. This will serve as a basis for evaluating culturally exemplary families annually, unifying the approach throughout the province.

Notably, based on the conclusions of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee at the Conference to evaluate the results of the first six months of 2024 and implement tasks for the last six months of 2024 of the Steering Committee for the implementation of social insurance and health insurance policies of Son La province, the Son La Provincial Social Insurance agency directly advised the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to issue an open letter calling for the joint efforts of all agencies, units, businesses and people to purchase health insurance cards to donate to people in difficult circumstances.

Just two months after responding to the Open Letter from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, 60 agencies and units throughout Son La province have donated over 630 million VND. This money has been promptly transferred to the Provincial Social Insurance agency to purchase health insurance cards for people in difficult circumstances who are not eligible for state-funded health insurance. Many units have donated significant amounts, including: Thuan Chau District Health Center, the Provincial People's Court, Son La College, the Provincial Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Provincial Social Insurance agency...

“Every act of kindness and sharing through this appeal will help the poor and those in difficult circumstances have a solid foundation whenever they unfortunately encounter illness or disease. More importantly, and as we hope, through these acts of mutual support and compassion, we will promote the strength of national unity, thereby working together to build a culture of social security – creating a sustainable social security system,” Mr. Thieu Quang Ngai emphasized.

Khanh Le - Ngoc Mai