Opinions on promoting the construction of a basic elderly care service system

A: The Opinions on Strengthening Aging Work in the New Era issued by the CPC Central Committee and The State Council clearly require the establishment of a basic elderly care service list system. The system contains three aspects, one is the system structure. That is, there is a national List of basic pension services at the national level, and the Opinions require that the list formulated and issued by provincial governments should contain the service items in the National List of basic pension Services, and the coverage and realization degree should not be lower than the requirements of the National List of basic pension Services. The second is the content of the list. The list should clarify the service object, service content, service standards, etc. Third, dynamic adjustment. The clear objects, projects, contents, etc. of the National Basic Elderly Care Service List shall be dynamically adjusted according to factors such as the level of economic and social development and financial status, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs shall put forward revised opinions jointly with relevant departments in a timely manner, and be issued and implemented in the name of the department after approval according to procedures. According to the country's economic and social development, the country's financial security capacity, and the people's living needs and other factors, the adjustment includes both new projects and changes in the coverage and realization of existing projects.

The National List of Basic elderly Care Services includes 16 service items in three categories, including material help, care service and care service, and defines the service object and content of each project. In combination with the implementation of the requirements of the National Basic Public Service Standards (2021 edition), the List of National Basic Elderly Care Services focuses on ensuring the basic life security of the elderly, and summarizes the basic service items that have been clearly related to the elderly in the current effective laws, regulations and policy documents, and integrates them into the institutional framework of basic elderly care services. At present, among the 16 services listed in the National List of Basic Elderly Care Services, 13 are clearly stipulated in the National Basic Public Service Standards (2021 edition), and the remaining three are clearly stipulated in laws, regulations and policies. The elderly care service is divided into basic elderly care service and non-basic elderly care service, and basic elderly care service is provided to all elderly people as a public product in a inventorized and standardized way, which is an innovative policy measure made according to China's national conditions, and its significance is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:

First, it is conducive to ensuring and improving the basic people's livelihood. The "National List of Basic elderly Care Services" clarifies the scope and bottom line standards of basic elderly care services that governments at all levels must guarantee at this stage, allowing local governments to have a clear idea of the "key to guarantee" and "to what extent" of old-age care services at this stage, which is helpful to guide local governments to check the central requirements, make up for deficiencies, and optimize resource allocation. The limited financial resources will be used in the areas that the elderly are most concerned about and the key links that the elderly need most in their lives. At the same time, it is also conducive to the majority of elderly people for what kind of service security they can get from the state and society, so that they can better arrange their later life.

Second, the fruits of development will be shared by all. The National List of Basic Elderly Care Services is the basis for improving the basic elderly care service system, providing an important basis for all localities to determine their regional implementation standards and for elderly care service institutions to implement standardized service process management, and is conducive to promoting the standardization and equal supply of basic elderly care services nationwide. We will gradually realize that all elderly people have fair and accessible access to roughly equal basic elderly care services, and jointly share the fruits of reform and development.

Third, it is conducive to the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. The formulation and promulgation of the "National List of Basic Elderly Care Services" to clarify the bottom line standards of basic elderly care services is a solemn commitment made by the state to the people, and the basic work of improving the national basic public service system, which is conducive to promoting the livelihood security system of urban and rural areas to be more mature and finalized, and is conducive to promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.

Q: At present, the development of different regions in China is still uneven, and the gap between the aging degree is obvious. In this context, how should we realize the fair protection of basic elderly care services?