[Early Edition of the Weekly] China Faces a Surge in Disabled Elderly, Long-Term Care Insurance Still Finding Its Way (AI Translation)
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- In Nantong, Jiangsu province, with a population of 7.7 million and an advanced aging population, within a 1 km radius in the city center, there are 4 elderly care institutions, which increase to 19 when the radius is expanded to 3 km.
- The city has already entered an aging society since 1982, earlier than the national average by 17 years and the provincial average by 4 years. The disability rate in Nantong is about 10%, with signs of aging visible throughout the city. Nationally, as of 2015, there were approximately 40.63 million elderly people with disabilities or semi-disabilities in China.
- Long-term care insurance (LTCI) was introduced to provide financial support for living and medical care expenses for disabled individuals. By the end of 2022, LTCI covered around 169 million insured people nationwide with total expenditures reaching RMB 62.4 billion. However, despite being frequently mentioned in government documents, substantial progress on LTCI has been slow compared to other social security reforms.
- *Note: The original text contains more detailed information including challenges related to funding sources and sustainability of LTCI schemes, policy developments at both national and local levels, as well as issues related to service provision and fraud prevention within the system.*
文｜财新周刊 周信达
By Zhou Xinda, Caixin Weekly
站在江苏南通市中心的崇川区打开手机地图搜索，一公里内可以发现4家养老机构，若范围放大到三公里，这一数字增至19。
Standing in the center of Chongchuan District, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province and opening a mobile map search reveals four elderly care institutions within a one-kilometer radius. If the range is expanded to three kilometers, this number increases to 19.
南通拥有770万常住人口，近年来悄然跃至各类中国老龄化程度排行榜的前三位。以国际将60岁以上人群占比超过10%作为衡量标准，南通早在1982年已经迈入老龄化，分别先于全国17年和全省4年。
Nantong, with a permanent resident population of 7.7 million, has quietly leapt to the top three in various rankings measuring the degree of aging in China in recent years. Using the international standard that considers a population aged 60 and above exceeding 10% as aged, Nantong entered into an aging society as early as 1982, which is 17 years ahead of the national average and 4 years earlier than the provincial average.
穿行在市区，老龄化的气息扑面而来：小区里尊老敬老的宣传语醒目伫立，老人们三五成群摇着蒲扇打牌闲聊。晚上9点一过，市区沿街的门头商铺灯光悉数熄灭，甚至白天的公交车上也难觅人群，常常车厢里只有寥寥二三人。
Walking through the city center, the air is thick with the sense of an aging population: slogans promoting respect for the elderly stand out prominently in residential areas, where groups of seniors can be seen leisurely chatting and playing cards with fans in hand. After 9 p.m., the lights of storefronts along the city streets are all extinguished, and even during daytime hours, it's rare to find a crowd on public buses—often there are only two or three passengers in a bus carriage.
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