About "providing for the aged" has become a hot word in the meeting. What is the inevitable statement?

China has become the country with the largest elderly population in the world, and it is also one of the countries with the fastest population aging. At present, the elderly population in China has exceeded 200 million, and it is estimated that by the middle of this century, the elderly population in China may be close to 500 million. The rapid development of population aging will not only bring new development opportunities to economic and social development, but also bring many major challenges. Improper response measures may also lead to serious social problems. Therefore, it is inevitable that "providing for the aged" will continue to be the hot word of the congress and the focus of the delegates' attention.

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However, judging from the discussion focus of NPC deputies in recent years, although the theme is "providing for the aged", the content is constantly changing. In the first two years, what the delegates discussed most was the living security of the elderly; Later, it was mentioned more, which became the problem of "one bed is hard to find" in the old-age care institutions; In recent two years, people began to pay extensive attention to the medical and spiritual comfort of the elderly. The change of topic focus also reflects China's progress and efforts in providing for the aged.

However, at present, some of the insights of the delegates may not have been fully concerned. For example, many people are still concerned about the shortage of beds for the aged, but the core problem of the aged at present is not the shortage of beds. According to the survey of the National People's Congress in recent years, in many places, idle beds for the elderly have become a new problem. Some places have built well-equipped nursing homes, but they have been uninhabited for a long time. In some places, the vacancy rate of beds in old-age care institutions is as high as 60%. Not only is it difficult for investors to recover their costs, but the subsidies provided by the government for the construction of old-age care institutions have also hit Shui Piao hard.

In fact, according to our survey, in most places, the old-age care institutions that do not have medical rehabilitation conditions are very attractive to the elderly. If the old-age care institutions can only provide simple living services, the old people's willingness to choose old-age care institutions is very low, which is also an important reason why some rural "five guarantees" elderly people would rather let their neighbors take care of them than stay in nursing homes. Therefore, the future development of old-age care institutions must adhere to the combination of medical care and nursing, and can provide convenient medical services for the elderly.

The care of the disabled elderly also deserves further attention. With the aggravation of aging, the number of disabled elderly people has further increased. They need not only personal care, but also professional care for severely disabled people. However, for most families, professional nursing is a huge expense, so many people can only "make do" with the disabled elderly. If the elderly are hospitalized due to illness, the hospitalization time should be extended as much as possible, because during hospitalization, the elderly can not only get professional care, but also be reimbursed through social security, which will inevitably bring heavy pressure to the medical insurance fund. This actually puts forward a very urgent proposition for us: how to meet the nursing needs of the disabled elderly and avoid shifting the burden to medical insurance? In this regard, it is suggested that the establishment of a long-term care insurance system for the elderly in line with China's national conditions may be the best choice.

A new problem of providing for the aged is becoming increasingly clear: a considerable number of migrant workers will choose to work in cities when they are young, and their children will also study and work in cities. But when they are old, most of these migrant workers will choose to return to their hometowns to support the elderly. This means that the care of "empty nesters" in rural areas will be a long-term problem, and it is also worthy of attention from all walks of life and delegates.