Xing Wei, director of the Social Services Research Office at the CHINA STATE
PLANNER, said elderly-care pricing links the social safety net to market supply
and is the key institutional fulcrum balancing public-welfare and market
attributes of the sector. Pricing should neither be left entirely to market
forces nor set solely by government; a scientific pricing framework should
clarify the responsibilities of government, market and families, secure baseline
care for the indigent and financially disadvantaged disabled elderly, and guide
social capital into long-term care while shifting resources toward disabled care
and community/home-based services.
