Beijing, Dec. 14 (Reporter Li Jinlei) 2017 is about to pass. Looking back on this year, the main line of "benefiting people’s livelihood" runs through the whole year. Among them, as an important part of people’s livelihood work, social security has undergone at least the following ten important changes in 2017, which have a positive impact on your life and mine.
Zhongxin. com reporter Li Jinlei
Pensions ushered in "13 consecutive rises"
[Change] In 2017, pensions continued to increase, achieving "13 consecutive rises". The basic pension level of more than 100 million retirees has been raised by about 5.5%. The pensions of the elderly retirees and retirees from enterprises in remote and hard areas have risen a little more appropriately.
[Impact] As pensions rise, retirees get more money and their lives are more secure. Wu Yue, a 79-year-old retired doctor in Beijing, told the reporter of Zhongxin.com: "My pension can probably rise by more than 200 yuan a year, and now the pension level has reached more than 5,600 yuan, which is enough!"
The endowment insurance fund began to invest and operate.
[Change] This year’s pension has started the pace of investment and operation. According to the data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in November, the investment in the basic old-age insurance fund has been carried out steadily. The governments of nine provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) such as Beijing and Anhui have signed entrusted investment contracts with the Social Security Fund Council, with a total contract value of 430 billion yuan, of which 180 billion yuan has been received and investment has begun.
[Impact] Chu Fuling, director of the China Social Security Research Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, told reporters that the pressure of providing for the aged is increasing day by day. Under the principle of safe investment and steady investment, it is necessary to invest in the surplus funds of the endowment insurance fund in various ways, which is conducive to improving the income level and realizing the preservation and appreciation of the fund.
Zhongxin. com reporter Li Jinlei
Inter-provincial medical treatment in different places can be directly settled.
[Change] In 2017, breakthrough was made in the direct settlement of cross-provincial medical treatment in different places. As of October 31, on the basis that all provincial medical treatment settlement systems and all co-ordination areas in China have been connected to the national medical treatment settlement system in different places, the number of designated medical institutions across provinces in China has increased to 7,688, and the number of registered people has reached 1.81 million.
[Impact] Direct settlement of medical treatment across provinces and different places saves the insured from the trouble of padding money and running back and forth. Tang Jisong, director of the Social Insurance Management Center of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said that all eligible insured persons can use this system to realize direct settlement of hospitalization expenses across provinces and different places, without having to advance their own funds and then reimburse them at the insured place.
Some state-owned assets enrich the social security fund.
[Changes] In November, the State Council announced the Implementation Plan for Transferring Part of State-owned Capital to Enrich the Social Security Fund, clarifying that the transfer ratio should be unified to 10% of the state-owned shares of enterprises, and requiring some central enterprises and some provinces to carry out pilot projects in 2017.
[Impact] Zhang Yinghua, executive researcher of the World Social Security Research Center of China Academy of Social Sciences, told the reporter of Zhongxin.com that with the "blood transfusion" of the social security fund, it will alleviate the pension gap, avoid transferring the gap to the next generation, realize intergenerational equity, and at the same time help to ensure the timely and full payment of pensions and resolve the impact of the aging population on the old-age insurance system.
Zhongxin. com reporter Li Jinlei
Unified bookkeeping interest rate of employee pension insurance personal account
[Change] According to the "Measures for Unifying and Standardizing the Bookkeeping Interest Rate of Personal Accounts of Employees’ Endowment Insurance" issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in April 2017, the bookkeeping interest rate of personal accounts of basic endowment insurance for government agencies, institutions and enterprises will be unified and announced by the state every year. The bookkeeping interest rate should be mainly determined by considering the factors such as the salary increase of employees and the balance of funds, and adjusted through reasonable coefficients. The bookkeeping interest rate shall not be lower than the bank time deposit interest rate.
[Impact] In the opinion of experts, it is helpful to realize institutional fairness to uniformly determine the bookkeeping interest rate of individual accounts of basic old-age insurance for government agencies, institutions and enterprise employees. The bookkeeping interest rate should not be lower than the bank time deposit interest rate, which will help guide the insured to actively participate in the insurance and pay in full, and ensure the basic life of the insured after retirement.
Maternity and medical insurance were merged and implemented.
[Change] In 2017, 12 cities including Handan City, Jinzhong City, Shenyang City, Taizhou City, Hefei City, Weihai City, Zhengzhou City, Yueyang City, Zhuhai City, Chongqing City, Neijiang City and Kunming City launched a pilot project for the merger of maternity insurance and employee basic medical insurance. The pilot will be launched before the end of June 2017, and the pilot period will be about one year.
[Impact] According to the requirements, maternity insurance and medical insurance are combined, and the maternity insurance benefits of employees during childbirth remain unchanged. Yang Yansui, director of Tsinghua University Employment and Social Security Research Center, said that because the reimbursement rate of medical insurance in some places has reached 80%-90%, and the reimbursement rate of maternity insurance is still below 70%, the maternity insurance benefits in these places may be improved after the merger.
China News Service reporter Li Jinhong photo
Unemployment insurance rates are reduced and unemployment benefits are increased.
[Change] On the one hand, it is to reduce the payment rate. From January 1, 2017, provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) with a total unemployment insurance rate of 1.5% can reduce the total rate to 1%, and the period for reducing the rate will be implemented until April 30, 2018. On the other hand, it is to raise the unemployment insurance standard. According to the Guiding Opinions on Adjusting the Unemployment Insurance Standard issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance, the unemployment insurance standard will be gradually raised to 90% of the minimum wage standard.
[Impact] Unemployment insurance is jointly paid by the unit and employees. With the reduction of the rate, the burden on enterprises will be further reduced, and the wages of employees may increase more or less. The unemployment benefit standard has been raised to 90% of the minimum wage standard, and the life of the unemployed is more secure.
Enterprise employees can apply for skills upgrading subsidies.
[Change] An important function of unemployment insurance is to stabilize employment and prevent unemployment. In 2017, unemployment insurance ushered in a new policy, and eligible employees can apply for a large number of skills upgrading subsidies. The first application condition is to participate in unemployment insurance according to law and pay unemployment insurance premiums for more than 36 months (including 36 months); The second is to obtain primary (level 5), intermediate (level 4) and advanced (level 3) vocational qualification certificates or vocational skill level certificates from January 1, 2017.
[Impact] The person in charge of the unemployment insurance department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said that this mobilized the enthusiasm of employees to learn vocational skills to a certain extent, which was conducive to stabilizing employment and preventing unemployment. According to estimates, about 2 million employees will benefit every year.
Zhongxin. com reporter Li Jinlei
It is planned to pay pension and medical insurance for the unemployed.
[Change] In November 2017, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security publicly solicited opinions on the Unemployment Insurance Regulations (Revised Draft for Comment). Compared with the current regulations, in the opinion draft, the basic old-age insurance premium, vocational skill appraisal subsidy and entrepreneurship subsidy for the unemployed are added, and the medical subsidy is adjusted to pay the basic medical insurance premium.
[Impact] The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security pointed out that the payment of basic old-age insurance premiums has solved the problem of the interruption of the payment of old-age insurance for the unemployed and relieved the worries of the unemployed. Paying the basic medical insurance premium ensures that the unemployed enjoy medical insurance benefits, and solves the problem of "getting medical care for the sick" during the period when the unemployed receive the payment.
Industrial injury insurance benefits are adjusted at least once every two years.
[Changes] In July 2017, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Adjustment and Determination Mechanism of Work-related Injury Insurance Benefits", clarifying that in principle, work-related injury insurance benefits should be adjusted at least once every two years.
[Impact] From the outside world, with the development of economy and society, the average wage and living expenses of employees have changed. Adjusting the treatment level of industrial injury insurance in a timely manner is not only the inherent requirement of the industrial injury insurance system, but also the proper meaning of protecting the rights and interests of the insured.