On the other end of the line was the tired, sad voice of a girl taking care of her elderly mother who had been bedridden for many years. That woman did not ask about a new policy, nor did she propose to the press to "demand benefits" for her. What she wished for was simply: "My family does not know what to do to get my mother back the pension that she has had for a lifetime of labor...".
That sentence haunted me for many days afterwards.
Monitoring social insurance, I used to think that my work would be associated with meetings, decrees, circulars or dense tables of data. But the more I go, the more I meet workers, retirees, patients and even officials implementing policies, the more I understand that behind each legal clause is always the life of many people.
And from then on, I understood why Lao Dong Newspaper for nearly a century has always reserved a special place for stories about social security.
Not numbers, but human fates
If you only look at the report, the social insurance sector is mostly numbers: How many people participate? How many trillions of VND are paid? How many businesses are late in paying? How many cases are entitled to benefits? But when I started to follow this sector, I realized that those numbers have never been inanimate.
Behind each insurance debt is a worker who cannot close the book to find a new job. Behind a maternity regulation is the joy of a young family. Behind a health insurance card is the opportunity to continue treatment for a patient. And behind the unpaid pension are the months of waiting for an elderly and weak person.
Perhaps that's why every time I hold a tape recorder to enter an interview, I always remind myself that what needs to be listened to first is not numbers, but people.
The case of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngat (Hanoi) who has not been able to receive social insurance allowances for 5 years is one of the marks that I remember most.
The more you learn about the file, the more complicated the story becomes. There are regulations on authorization, regulations on guardianship related to the Court, the Procuracy, responsibilities of local authorities, local social insurance agencies and also loopholes when applying the law in practice.
I reread the regulations, met lawyers, exchanged with social insurance agencies, and worked with local authorities. Each meeting adds a piece of puzzle.
The thing that worries me the most is not determining which unit is right or wrong, but how to make that story seen from the perspective of people's rights. Because if it only stops at pointing out one inadequacy, the article will close when the newspaper page closes.
But if it contributes to promoting the parties to sit down together and find solutions, the value of journalism will continue after the article is published.
The day I heard the news that the social insurance agency brought all the outstanding pension money to his house to pay him, I didn't think that was the "achievement" of just a journalist.
The job of "decoding" policies for people to access more easily
Journalism on social insurance also has a very special job: Turning dry legal documents into information that any citizen can understand. "Decoding" policies to make it easier for people to access is also the daily work of journalists.
When the Ministry of Health issued new regulations on disease groups that are examined and treated without referral papers but are still entitled to health insurance, I did not want to just stop at reporting. I spent time reading each appendix, comparing each disease group, and exchanging with experts to answer the simplest question: "What benefits will people enjoy?".
After the article was published, many readers contacted the editorial office to ask more about their or their loved ones' cases. Those questions made me realize that sometimes the greatest value of a newspaper article is not in the number of readers, but in helping a patient understand their rights correctly, so as not to miss the opportunity to be treated according to policies. That was also when I felt more clearly the role of the press in bringing policies closer to life.
In the years of monitoring the social insurance sector, there is a topic that always lingers for me: the situation of businesses delaying and owing social insurance contributions.
Statistical reports may only record a few lines about the amount of debt increasing or decreasing. But when I met workers who were suspended from maternity benefits, were not covered by unemployment insurance or could not finalize their books to transfer jobs, I understood how great the impact of those debts was.
Someone told me: "I have been paying insurance for many years, and only when I need it do I know that my rights are being suspended". That saying also reminds me that the responsibility of a journalist is not only to persistently reflect the matter, but also to ask questions for management agencies, businesses and society to look at together.
Because each article about social insurance debt, about policy implementation or about problems in resolving regimes, in the end, all aim for a common goal: the legitimate rights of workers must be protected.
That is also the reason why, every time I start a new topic, I always remind myself that: Behind the numbers are always people. And when journalists know how to listen to those people with all caution and responsibility, news will not just stop on the newspaper page.
News will become a social security pillar.
