On March 5, 2018, a corner of the opening ceremony of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
[The Epoch Times, February 26, 2023](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Li Jing) The recent reform of employee medical insurance by the authorities in Hubei Province has triggered tens of thousands of people to take to the streets to protest. The protesters believe that the government has taken away their savings. On Saturday (25th), the CCP Medical Security Bureau responded to the whereabouts of the medical insurance reform funds.
On February 25, according to the People’s Daily, the official media of the Communist Party of China, recently, some localities have promoted the “Reform of the Mutual Aid Security Mechanism for Outpatient Medical Insurance for Employees” (referred to as “Reform of Medical Insurance”), which has aroused the attention of some people, and some people are concerned about the reform of the medical insurance for employees after the reform. There are doubts about the reduction in personal account transfers.
In response, the person in charge of the relevant department of the CCP Medical Insurance Bureau responded that the medical insurance reform is to provide financial support for general outpatient reimbursement by reducing the proportion of unit payment and pooling funds transferred to personal accounts.
According to the person in charge, the reform clearly requires that all funds transferred be used for overall outpatient reimbursement to meet the needs of insured persons, especially retirees, for reimbursement of ordinary outpatient expenses.
The above-mentioned official report aroused the attention and heated discussions among netizens:
“We are not surprised by the sudden changes in policies. History has long told us that ‘historical documents do not have practical significance’, and the high-sounding statement is ‘advancing with the times’.”
“It’s funny, what is the translation, the money is in the personal account, can’t I buy medicine?”
“It has long been stipulated that special funds should not be embezzled. If you use it for epidemic prevention, you can say you have it, but you can’t take my money and make me grateful and insult my IQ.”
“Obviously our money has shrunk, and we have to continue to fool people. Once or twice is fine, but if there are too many times, no one will believe it.”
“When the family planning started, it was publicized across the country: ‘It’s good to have only one child, and the government will take care of the elderly’, and it was even publicized everywhere in the countryside: ‘If one person has an extra child, the whole village will be sterilized! Set up a grave, don’t add a single person!’ After discovering that the population has decreased significantly, they began to encourage two and three children, which has no integrity at all.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s medical insurance reform has caused personal accounts to “shrink”; many elderly people protest
Widespread controversy over China’s healthcare reforms began earlier this month. From February 1st, Wuhan City, Hubei Province implemented a new plan of “employee medical insurance reform”, and the personal medical insurance benefits of retirees in Wuhan City were reduced from about 5% of the average basic pension to 2.5%, that is, the monthly personal account The amount was reduced from 286 yuan to 83 yuan.
On February 8 and 15, tens of thousands of retirees and supporters from Wuhan gathered outside the city government and Zhongshan Park respectively, protesting against the reduction of medical subsidies by the Wuhan government, raising the reimbursement threshold for medical expenses, and demanding that the authorities revoke the new Medicare measures.
At the same time, protests against medical insurance reform broke out in Dalian, Guangzhou and other places.
Although the CCP authorities did not use force to disperse the protests or arrest them on a large scale, the “settlement after autumn” began immediately.
Video 1: Facing threats from the police, a retired woman defends her rights and denounces “medical insurance reform”.
According to the report, some people think that the money in the personal account belongs to the individual, which is a conceptual misunderstanding. The money in the personal account is legally a medical insurance fund and managed by the government.
Video 2: Faced with the threat of the police coming to her door, a retired lady defends her rights and denounces the “medical insurance reform”.
The “Decision” clearly mentioned: “The principal and interest of the personal account belong to the individual and can be carried forward for use and inheritance.” At the same time, it also stipulates: “The basic medical insurance fund is included in the management of the special financial account, and the funds are used for special purposes, and no misappropriation is allowed. “
While the official explanation for the health care reform is to use some of the surplus in personal accounts to meet the growing public medical needs, protesters believe that the government has taken their savings.
Video 3: Faced with threats from the police, a retired lady defends her rights and denounces “medical insurance reform.”
Fearing that the CCP will change its policy day and night, there will be a wave of “retirement insurance” in various places
Recently, news about withdrawing from social security has been appearing on the Internet in mainland China.
Douyin netizen “Henan Yijun” said that a netizen who works at the Social Security Bureau told him that too many people have withdrawn their insurance from the Social Security Bureau recently, and they are all waiting in a long line in the lobby. Jiangsu netizen Xiaowu also said that recently there have been many people queuing up to withdraw their social insurance collectively.
The so-called social security refers to the five insurances commonly known as “five insurances and one housing fund” in mainland China, including medical insurance, pension insurance, unemployment insurance, maternity insurance and work-related injury insurance.
According to the CCP’s previous regulations, Chinese men can receive social insurance after retirement at the age of 60, and women can receive social security after retirement at the age of 55. However, on January 29 this year, CITIC Securities issued a report stating that the CCP is about to implement a gradual retirement plan. It will be officially implemented in 2055, and men and women aged 65 will be able to retire at the same age around 2055.”
The Weibo account “Hunan Xiaoshimei” posted on the 20th, “The determination has been made, and I really don’t want to continue to pay social security! My friend works in the Social Security Bureau. She said that there has been an abnormal phenomenon recently. Many people have consulted about withdrawing social security. , most of them are self-employed and flexible workers. Among them, most of them have only paid for less than 5 years, and the willingness to cancel their insurance is the strongest…”
She said, “If you really want to delay retirement, a person starts to pay social security when he starts working at the age of 25, and retires at the age of 65. It will take 40 years to pay, and it is conservatively estimated to pay 400,000 yuan. The pension is about 2,000 yuan, and it takes at least 17 years to pay it. When I get my principal back, I will be 82 years old! Nowadays, work pressure is high and business is difficult. Many people work in the dark, take their children to school, and take care of the elderly. They are exhausted, and their bodies are not well maintained. How many people can live to be 82 years old?”
Editor in charge: Sun Yun #