The Formation Mechanism and Optimization Strategies of China’s Long-Term Care Insurance Policy: An Analysis Based on the Multi-Stream Theory
Long-term care for people with disabilities is becoming increasingly urgent against the backdrop of a rapidly aging population. Long-term care insurance is a key measure to improve the elderly care security system. This study proposes a multi-stream analytical framework based on local characteristics to analyze policy formation via problem, policy, and political streams and identifies challenges based on pilot practices. Population aging, family care burdens, and social care demands drive the problem stream; local pilot programs and accumulated research support the policy stream; and national strategies and public welfare needs drive the political stream. These three streams interact in an effort to facilitate policy implementation. However, challenges remain, including regional differences in coverage, unevenness in the supply and demand of care, limited sources of funding, fragmentation of policies, poor coordination between ministries, and low levels of public acceptance. This study suggests that stream coordination should be strengthened to facilitate the standardized, balanced, and sustainable development of long-term care insurance.
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