III. Health and Medical Care for the Aged

Improving medical care and service for the aged and enhancing their health are an important part of the efforts for the overall improvement of the people's health and quality of life in an ageing society. The Chinese Government pays great attention to medical care for senior citizens in both urban and rural areas by improving medical and health services for them so as to meet their basic medical needs and improve their mental and physical health.

Strengthening Medical Care for the Aged in Urban and Rural Areas

The state has established a basic medical insurance system which combines the unified planning program with individual accounts for urban employees. Under this system, retirees do not have to pay the basic insurance premiums, and they are given appropriate consideration in the ratio of medical costs paid between what is put into their individual accounts by their former employers and the part they have to pay personally. The general practice now is that large amounts for the medical costs for elderly people's common and chronic diseases are covered by the funds under the unified planning program, thus reducing the percentage paid by the individual retirees. By the end of 2005, retirees covered by the basic medical insurance in China had reached 37.61 million.

The state has taken supplementary medical care measures to reduce the burden of medical costs for the elderly. The state has set up a medical subsidy program for civil servants, and such expenditure, including the part for retirees, is covered by the state revenue. The government encourages the establishment of a subsidy system to cover hefty medical costs throughout the country. The fund collected from individual or enterprise payments will be used to cover medical costs in excess of the maximum coverage under the unified planning program for employees and retirees who suffer from major, serious or chronic diseases. Where conditions permit, enterprises have set up a supplementary medical insurance system to cover medical costs in excess of the maximum coverage under the basic medical insurance. The Chinese Government is exploring ways to set up a social medical aid system in cities by pooling medical-aid funds from many channels, such as state revenue allocations, public lottery welfare funds and public donations, to subsidize the medical costs of people in dire need. By the end of 2005, experimental work had been conducted in 1,119 counties (cities, districts, banners), providing medical aid in 1.633 million cases.

(To be continued)