The only subsidy was only about a few million VND, which was sold out after a short time. For more than 30 years, my mother has not had a pension or social insurance. If I had to choose, I would have chosen to have a pension, but at that time, hardly anyone had the right to choose, my mother repeatedly said.
To date, my mother is one of millions of elderly people without pensions or social insurance benefits.
According to the recently published summary report on the implementation of the law on social assistance for the elderly, the Ministry of Health cited data from the National Population Data to say that the country currently has more than 16.1 million elderly people. Of which, 2.5 million people are receiving monthly pensions and social insurance benefits; 2.06 million people are receiving monthly social benefits; 10,000 people are being cared for at social assistance facilities. Thus, there are still about 10 million elderly people without any allowances, and most of them have not been covered for social security, dependent on their children, and have to work to make a living every day.
The Ministry of Health said that there are currently 5 provinces and cities raising social assistance standards higher than the Government's regulations; 32 localities have expanded beneficiaries to include elderly people in difficult circumstances living alone. However, many provinces and cities have not yet had policies to support people aged 60 to 80 who are not poor or near-poor households, do not have pensions, subsidies or health insurance cards.
The amended Law on Social Insurance, effective from July 1, has lowered the age of receiving social pension benefits from 80 to 75. In the draft guiding decree, the Ministry of Health proposes a monthly allowance of VND500,000 for people aged 75 and over, without pension or social insurance allowance. For poor and near-poor households, the age of application ranges from 70 to under 75 years old. The total estimated cost is about 9,600 billion VND per year.
In the long term, the Ministry of Health recommends that competent authorities continue to raise the standard of social assistance, aiming to ensure a minimum standard of living, and build a national social security platform.
This is truly a good sign for those who do not have a monthly allowance - including those who have received a portion under Decision 176 decades ago. 500,000 VND may not be a large amount of money, but for the elderly, it is a meaningful source of support, showing the concern of the State and society.
Another information that many elderly people expect is the hospital fee exemption policy. At the meeting of the Party's XIV document subcommittee in mid -March, General Secretary To Lam questioned: "Can you strive to exempt the hospital fee by 2030?" The General Secretary suggested that if possible, the agencies should immediately add this goal to the draft political report.
Although it is only a suggestion, people have every basis to expect that this policy will soon be studied and implemented. Along with the national tuition exemption policy, expected to be implemented from the 2025-2026 school year, the orientation of hospital exemption for all people will be a big step forward in social justice, bringing profound and especially meaningful humanity to the elderly.
