Need policies to support investors in building nursing homes

According to the National Assembly member, the cost of services at private nursing homes is currently beyond the ability of most elderly people to pay. Therefore, the draft Population Law needs to supplement support policies for organizations and individuals investing in elderly care facilities, thereby developing a care network suitable to the income and actual needs of the people.

On the afternoon of October 23, the National Assembly Delegation of Gia Lai province and the National Assembly Delegation of Thai Nguyen province (Group 5) discussed in groups the draft Law on Press (amended), the draft Law on Population and the draft Law on Disease Prevention.

One of the contents that the National Assembly deputies are interested in discussing is the policy of caring for the elderly.

Overview of the discussion session at Group 5

The Draft Law on Population devotes Chapter IV to regulating policies to adapt to population aging and the elderly population, in order to meet the requirements of caring for, protecting and promoting the role of the elderly in the new context.

Specifically, Article 17 stipulates the content of support for elderly care, including guiding the elderly to take care of themselves; providing care and support services at home and in the community; and organizing elderly care models suitable to local conditions.

Article 18 focuses on developing human resources for elderly care, emphasizing the integration of geriatric training into medical education programs; encouraging scholarships, tuition and living allowances for students in this field, especially those working in disadvantaged and extremely disadvantaged areas.

The Draft Law also prioritizes the development and attraction of human resources in the field of geriatrics, considering this an important foundation to meet the health care needs of the elderly in a period of rapid population aging.

According to National Assembly Deputy Doan Thi Hao ( Thai Nguyen ), the content of support for elderly care "is clear but only stops at guiding the elderly to take care of themselves, providing services at home and organizing care models in the community without specific measures to adapt to the aging population process".

National Assembly Delegate Doan Thi Hao (Thai Nguyen) speaks

Delegates proposed adding regulations on healthy aging policies; encouraging people to prepare for old age early; encouraging organizations and individuals to invest in elderly care facilities, and developing diverse forms of home and community care "on the principle of being suitable to the needs and autonomy of each group of elderly people, socio-economic conditions and cultural traditions of the locality".

At the same time, linking primary health care with social services to improve the quality of comprehensive care.

National Assembly Delegate Le Hoang Anh (Gia Lai) speaks

National Assembly Deputy Le Hoang Anh (Gia Lai) proposed adding to Article 17 a clear definition of the State's responsibility in building a network of elderly care services; encouraging the socialization of home and community care services. "These issues are not clearly regulated in the Law on the Elderly."

Delegate Le Hoang Anh also proposed adding Article 18 to regulate training and certification of elderly care practices in conjunction with the vocational education system. “Resolution 72-NQ/TW requires the development of elderly care facilities, we must have human resources for this issue.”

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Van Canh (Gia Lai) speaks

Commenting on the policy of caring for the elderly, National Assembly member Nguyen Van Canh (Gia Lai) said that through a survey, the cost at private nursing homes is currently "about 20 million VND/person/month, or the morning-afternoon model is also 350-520 thousand VND/person/day. This level is very high compared to the average income of society, the average pension is currently only 6.5 million VND/person/month".

Delegates said that if the State encourages elderly care, it must have support policies, mainly land support.

"I asked nursing home investors, they said if the State supported land, the cost could be reduced by half, to about 10 - 12 million VND/person/month; if going in the morning and returning in the afternoon, it would only be 200 - 350 thousand VND/person/day, so many people could use it."

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Lam Thanh (Thai Nguyen) speaks

From another perspective, National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Lam Thanh (Thai Nguyen) said, "It is not necessary to regulate the content of elderly care in the Population Law".

According to delegates, the important thing now is to design policies to support investors in building elderly care centers to meet the growing needs of society.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/can-chinh-sach-ho-tro-nha-dau-tu-xay-vien-duong-lao-10392627.html