BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China is moving to add provisions on long-term care insurance to its draft law on medical security, as lawmakers seek to further improve the country's medical security system.
At a press conference on Friday, Huang Haihua, spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said the proposed addition of long-term care insurance provisions was based on feedback from various sectors.
Long-term care insurance is a social insurance program that provides services or financial support for basic daily care and related medical nursing for people who have lost some or all of their ability to care for themselves. By the end of 2025, this insurance covered 308.55 million people, with 1.93 million receiving benefits.
The scheme is a priority in the country's five-year plan to improve medical security as China's population ages. At the end of 2025, the country had 323.38 million people aged 60 or above, accounting for 23 percent of its population. The figure is projected to exceed 400 million around 2035.
In April, a session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee conducted a second review of the draft medical security law, and lawmakers will deliberate on it for a third review during the upcoming session scheduled from Aug. 25 to 28.
According to Huang, the third-review draft is also expected to strengthen provisions on managing medical security funds and refine requirements for settling medical expenses incurred outside the place of insurance registration.
From April 30 to May 29, the draft was made available for public comment.
NPC deputies and members of the public also offered suggestions to improve provisions on the participation of people in flexible employment in the basic medical insurance system and the rules for determining the scope of expenses covered by basic medical insurance funds.
Huang said the committee had carefully studied the opinions and suggestions and was considering corresponding revisions. ■
