The person in charge of the Medical Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security explains the issues related to the appropriate reduction of maternity insurance premium rates. Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Notice on Appropriate Reduction of Maternity Insurance Premium Rates" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), requiring

In areas where the maternity insurance fund balance exceeds the reasonable stock, the premium rate will be reduced.

Regarding this issue, the reporter interviewed the person in charge of the Medical Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Reporter: Please briefly introduce the background of the "Notice" jointly issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance.

Person in charge: At present, maternity insurance is mainly based on the "Social Insurance Law" and the "Trial Measures for Maternity Insurance for Enterprise Employees" promulgated by the former Ministry of Labor in 1994.

It stipulates that the maternity insurance fund shall be paid by the employer, and individual employees shall not pay maternity insurance premiums.

Maternity insurance funds are raised and used in accordance with the principle of "revenues are determined by expenses, and revenue and expenditure are basically balanced"; the withdrawal ratio of maternity insurance premiums is determined by the local people's government based on the number of planned births, maternity allowances, maternity medical expenses and other expenses, and can be based on expenditures

Adjustments may be made from time to time, but the maximum shall not exceed 1% of the total salary.

Since the implementation of the "Trial Measures for Maternity Insurance for Enterprise Employees", various localities have successively introduced local maternity insurance measures based on local actual conditions to promote maternity insurance. The number of insured people has increased year by year, and the scale of funds has continued to expand. In promoting women's employment and balancing employer

It has played an important role in protecting the rights and interests of female employees.

As of the end of the year, 31 provinces across the country have introduced local maternity insurance measures, and the scope of insurance includes enterprises, government agencies, institutions, social groups, and individual economic organizations.

The number of insured persons reached 170 million; the annual fund income was 44.6 billion yuan, expenditure was 36.8 billion yuan, and the cumulative balance was 59.3 billion yuan.

, 6.13 million people nationwide enjoyed maternity insurance benefits, an increase of 920,000 people over the same period last year, with a growth rate of 17.6%.

Although maternity insurance has made great progress, there are still problems such as uneven development among regions, excessive fund balances, and irregular benefit payments, which need to be standardized and adjusted.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to reducing social insurance premiums and reducing the burden on enterprises.

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee put forward the requirement of “timely and appropriate reduction of social insurance premiums”. The “Government Work Report” made arrangements for reducing social insurance premiums. Recently, the 96th Executive Meeting of the State Council passed the requirement to appropriately reduce work-related injury insurance and maternity insurance.

The insurance rate plan requires two insurances to adjust their rates.

This work mainly focuses on new situations in economic operations and outstanding problems faced by enterprises, and is determined to take targeted measures to reduce fees and clear fees, reduce the burden on employers, further stimulate market vitality, and enhance economic development momentum.

The "Notice" issued by the two ministries is a specific measure to implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the deployment of the State Council.

The "Notice" puts forward requirements on the scope of adjustment of maternity insurance premium rates, calculation basis and risk prevention, and clarifies that it will be implemented on October 1.

This work will accelerate the improvement of maternity insurance policies, promote refined management of maternity insurance, improve the efficiency of maternity insurance fund use, and provide better services to the people.

Reporter: To what extent will this reduction in maternity insurance premium rates be carried out? Person in charge: This adjustment in maternity insurance premium rates will be based on the stock of maternity insurance funds in the coordinating region, and will not be a one-size-fits-all approach.

At present, the balance and stock of maternity insurance funds across the country are uneven. In some areas, the maternity insurance funds cannot cover the current income, while in other areas, the fund stock can cover the payment for more than one and a half years.

In response to this situation, the "Notice" requires that rate reduction work be carried out in overall planning areas where the cumulative balance of maternity insurance funds exceeds a reasonable range.

The "Notice" stipulates that the reasonable balance of the maternity insurance fund is equivalent to 6 to 9 months of benefit payments.

If the cumulative balance of the overall regional fund exceeds nine months of payments, the maternity insurance fund rate should be lowered to within 0.5% of the employer's total employee wages.

The specific rate is calculated based on the principle of "determining revenue based on expenditure and balancing revenue and expenditure", and is determined based on the revenue, expenditure and balance of the maternity insurance fund in recent years.

After the adjustment, the excessive fund stock will be gradually digested, the balance of fund income and expenditure will be maintained, and healthy operation will be promoted.

Reporter: Is there any risk in improving the maternity insurance policy and reducing the maternity insurance premium rate this time? How much can the rate be reduced? Person in charge: According to maternity insurance statistics from last year, the fund balance in some areas can cover the maternity insurance for more than one and a half years.

Funds have room to lower their fee rates.

In addition, compared with other insurance projects, maternity insurance has strong predictability and relatively low risks. It can be calculated through pregnancy and birth population data, wage growth, medical consumption growth and other variables. High-risk expenditures are relatively small, and fund operations are relatively small.

Stablize.

In order to ensure the safe operation of the fund, the "Notice" stipulates that the maternity insurance fund balance shall have a payment range of 6 to 9 months, and requires local governments to strengthen the monitoring and management of maternity insurance funds, conduct fund monitoring on a monthly basis, and keep abreast of the dynamics of maternity insurance.

Change and prevent risks.

When the cumulative balance of the fund falls below the three-month payment limit, an early warning plan must be formulated and reported to the coordinating regional government and provincial human resources, social security, and finance departments.

If the balance continues to decline, emergency measures must be actively taken, such as improving the overall level of coordination, strengthening fund and medical service management, and standardizing maternity insurance benefits, to strive for fund balance.