Research On The Development Of Long-term Care Insurance System In China

According to the latest standard data from the United Nations,China has been stepping into an aging society since 2000.With aging Chinese population,how to care for the health status of the elderly and the daily life of the disabled elderly is a subject of major concern in China.A long-term care insurance system shall be established to not only achieve risk sharing and mutual funds,but also effectively give social health care and nursing resources to the people in need.Thus a sound,systematic and mature long-term care insurance system not only relates to the life quality of the elderly,but also helps solve the problems about the people's livelihood in China and alleviate certain social contradictions.At present,the demand for long-term care exceeds supply in China.The news about empty nesters and widowed elderly people are often reported.The size of the family population is gradually decreasing.When children go out to work,the elderly are not professionally taken care of.The elderly are significantly aging,and the number of disabled elderly people is increasing,resulting in the heavier burden on children.In addition,the elderly people's demand for care cannot be met due to imperfect nursing rehabilitation system,slightly insufficient nursing institutions and beds,and scarce professional nursing staff in China.Moreover,the high nursing cost and long care time lead to a certain economic and mental burdens for the family.The old people usually are sent to nursing institutions,such as nursing homes,etc.,because of limited professional nursing resources.Most of the nursing institutions can meet their basic living requirements,but and cannot help them physically and mentally.There is a serious imbalance between supply and demand in the long-term care market.The long-term care insurance system was early explored in foreign countries,and has been improved and reformed to form a mature long-term care insurance system in some countries,such as Japan,Germany,the United States,the Netherlands,etc.Chinese long-term care insurance system started late,and its design ideas and policies are still in the pilot stage,so it is necessary to learn from the international community.In this paper,some advice on making laws,expanding the financing channels,balancing the nursing resources and establishing the professional teams is proposed for the future development of Chinese long-term care insurance system by studying institutional arrangements,such as financing models and service models in foreign countries in order to achieve the goal of a harmonious society that "the elderly can be supported and medically treated".