In FocusWill a new insurance scheme get China’s ageing population the long-term care it needs?
The central government has announced plans to provide nationwide coverage by 2028, but uneven regional development is a major hurdle
Wu Boyao was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 26 years ago. Now 86, he lives with his wife and one of their two daughters in a suburb straddling the border between the eastern Chinese cities of Shanghai and Suzhou.
Originally from Shanghai, they moved to the area – which is administered by Suzhou – in search of a larger home. The trade-off was that Wu would no longer qualify for home care service sessions that were almost free.
A decade ago, Shanghai was one of the first cities in China to roll out a pilot long-term care insurance (LTCI) scheme. Wu, who by then was largely dependent on others for daily functionality, had his application approved.
The social security fund covered the lion’s share of the cost, leaving him with a token co-payment of just 6 yuan (88 US cents) a session. In exchange, he received daily one-hour visits from a carer who helped with bathing, foot and nail care, massages and other tasks.
“It was a short service, but eased the burden for the family,” said his daughter Jenny Wu, who lives with him.
But because local governments’ financing and payment arrangements are separate, that arrangement ceased after the family crossed the municipal border, even though Suzhou has also been piloting its own LTCI system in recent years.
Wu is one of more than 40 million frail or cognitively impaired older adults in China, and among the first to use social insurance specifically designed for the needs of the country’s rapidly greying population. But coverage remains far from complete.