At present, the most prominent issue of supporting the aged is to provide caring for incapacitated and partially incapacitated seniors. The combination of medical services and elder care has been established as a national strategy in China, and it is included in the country's
Healthy China 2030 Plan to integrate healthcare and pension services.
The 21st Century Business Herald editorialized that the question of how to better integrate medical services and elder care has long been explored by local governments. Considering the characteristics of an era of big data and artificial intelligence, some local efforts are inspiring, while some places lag behind in the implementation of the planning framework. The challenge of planning the combination of medical services and elder care at a nationwide level is still huge, as the gaps between different regions are significant.
It will be necessary to establish a new concept of health that covers prevention of diseases in full lifecycle, which includes the popularization of health knowledge, disease prevention, physical examination and rehabilitation, and to improve the family doctor and referral systems.
For the market, the government needs to further promote the targeted reform. In addition to easing administrative examination and approval process, the industrial rules for medical services and elder care should be established as soon as possible to help market players find proper business and profit models. Finally, specific legislation in medical services and elder care is needed.
Meanwhile, the new medical reform is getting more and more humanized. On October 10, 2018, the National Health Insurance Administration issued a Notice on the Inclusion of 17 Kinds of Anticancer Drugs in the Category B Drug List of the National Basic Medical Insurance, Work Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance. Compared to average retail prices, prices of these 17 drugs are dramatically reduced. The high prevalence of chronic diseases, especially cancer, has become a major problem for seniors, but as more drugs are brought into the system, standards of senior healthcare will improve.
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