Long-term care policy in Japan and its implications for China
10.3969/j.issn.1674-2982.2014.04.010
- VernacularTitle:日本长期照护政策及对我国的启示
- Author:
Xiaojuan ZHANG
;
Kun ZHU
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Aging of population;
Long term care;
Implication
- From:
Chinese Journal of Health Policy
2014;(4):55-61
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
This paper reviews the long-term care policy in Japan and discusses successes and challenges in order to provide policy guidelines for China. All Japanese adults aged 65 or over are covered by the long-term care in-surance ( LTCI) program and are eligible for both in-home and institutional-care services following a thorough, sys-tematic care certification process. The program is financed by a mix of general tax revenues from the three levels of gov-ernment , income-tested premiums, and standardized co-payments. A key success of the policy is its universal and compre-hensive coverage. Notwithstanding this success, increasing costs remain a challenge as Japan’s population ages and the number of LTCI users increases. Learning from the experience of Japan, China should establish a long-term care system, which covers all the aged population, mainly focuses on in-home care, and qualifies social funding to invest.
