To charge high deposits and prepaid membership fees has become a hidden rule in the industry
How to make the fees of the elderly care institutions reasonable and safe
□ Reporter Chen Lei
□ Trainee reporter Liu Ziwei
For half a year, the old people who booked or stayed in Jiangxi Province’s only "National Off-site Elderly Care Unit" China Love Pension Apartments are still waiting to recover the huge amount of funds they have paid in advance.
The legal representative of this pension apartment was accused of escaping with the pension expenses prepaid by the elderly in April this year.
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" combed through public information and found that in recent years, there have been many cases of private elderly care institutions across the country that have collected high deposits, high membership fees, and high prepaid pension fees. They have encountered operational difficulties and even closed down, resulting in elderly people Suffer a huge loss.
On November 1 this year, the revised "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions" were implemented, which stipulated that "elderly care institutions should publicize the charging standards and basis of various service items in a conspicuous position, and accept social supervision."
However, including the "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions", there are no laws, regulations and rules at the central level that clarify whether private elderly care institutions should charge high deposits, high membership fees, etc.
Experts interviewed by a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" believe that according to practice, it can be observed that private elderly care institutions charge high fees in various forms are common in the industry, and the resulting problems must be addressed at the institutional level.
Private elderly care institutions must charge fees in accordance with the law and clearly. If private elderly care institutions are allowed to charge high fees such as membership, they must strengthen supervision in accordance with the law, including the establishment of a third-party fund account compulsory supervision system, and strengthen supervision of pension funds collected by private elderly care institutions.
High deposits are relatively common
Lack of supervision leads to chaos
According to public information, the Zhonghuaqing Pension is located in the new district of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province. It has more than 1,700 beds. It is the oldest and largest in Jiangxi Province and is well-known for the elderly in Jiangxi and the whole country.
In April this year, the local police issued a notice stating that Zhang Mou, the legal representative of the Zhonghua Qing Senior Apartment, was filed for investigation by the new branch of the Nanchang Public Security Bureau for being suspected of illegally absorbing public deposits.
The public security organs have established a special case team to carry out investigations in a comprehensive manner.
Previously, Zhang was accused of escaping with the pension expenses paid in advance by the elderly.
The police said that in order to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the injured, the injured should bring relevant certificates and materials and report to the economic investigation department of the public security organ.
Because Zhang is a representative of the 13th National People's Congress of Jiangxi Province, in May this year, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of Jiangxi Province made a decision to approve compulsory measures against Zhang.
The amount involved in this case is hundreds of millions.
A victimized elderly person said that he and his wife and children used their life savings to pay a total of 810,000 yuan in advance to the Zhonghua Qing Pension, which is equivalent to booking a bed.
China Love Pension has won honors such as "Advanced Unit of Integrity Commitment in Jiangxi Province", "National Hundred Outstanding Elderly Service Organizations", and "The First Batch of Off-site Elderly Care Units in China".
Among them, the certificate of "the first batch of designated units for elderly care in other places in the country" was issued in August 2007 by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the China Committee on Aging.
Zhang also had the status of Vice President of Jiangxi Charity Federation, President of Jiangxi Elderly Service Industry Association, and Representative of the 13th People's Congress of Jiangxi Province.
In the past few years, three large-scale elderly care institutions in Jiangxi Province have experienced operational problems.
Among them, Jiangxi Laoqingxiang Industrial Development Co., Ltd. attracted the elderly to stay for the elderly in the name of "prepaid service fees" enjoying higher discounts for elderly care services, and the amount involved was more than 200 million yuan.
Jiangxi Jinsanjiang Pension Holding Group Co., Ltd. has adopted the form of "membership card" to attract investment from the elderly, involving more than 2,000 elderly people and involving more than 300 million yuan.
Li Chao, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that according to these phenomena, it can be seen that private elderly care institutions charge a variety of ways, such as high deposits, high membership fees, high medical security payments, etc. It is very common in the industry and has become a hidden rule of the industry.
Tang Jun, a researcher at the Social Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that this issue needs to be analyzed based on specific circumstances.
One situation is that private elderly care institutions deliberately do so by not only charging high deposits, membership fees, etc., but also using other benefits as a temptation, and then collect the money and run away; another situation is that the private elderly care institutions are indeed operating normally. Because of poor management, the capital chain broke and ran away.
Gao Yunxia, assistant dean of the China Philanthropy Research Institute of Beijing Normal University, told a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that the issue of deposits collected by private elderly care institutions should be treated rationally. The current collection of deposits does not violate the provisions of laws and regulations, and will also help private elderly care institutions encounter emergencies. When the situation arises, make financial response.
For private elderly care institutions charging high deposits, the core issue is to strengthen supervision and remind the elderly to avoid the risk of illegal fund-raising.
Low cost of illegal pension institutions
Lack of clear regulations on the purpose of the deposit
In recent years, similar incidents have occurred many times across the country.
In June 2016, Yiyang Aiwan (Beijing) Elderly Industrial Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yiyang Aiwan Company) swept thousands of elderly people with hundreds of millions of yuan in pension funds was exposed by the media.
After investigation, Yiyang Aiwan Company attracts thousands of elderly people to become members of the company under the name of "zero risk" and "high return", and then provides "zero cost" elderly care services to the elderly.
The membership fee is at least 100,000 yuan. The more you pay, the longer you can enjoy free services and the more experience items you have.
In December 2018, the People's Court of Chaoyang District of Beijing sentenced Lu Mou, the person in charge of Yiyang Aiwan Company, to 7 years in prison for illegally absorbing public deposits and fined 500,000 yuan.
In May 2018, a person in charge of a private elderly care institution ran away in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
According to the news released by the Hangzhou police, as of mid-June of that year, the West Lake Branch of the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau had received more than two thousand reports, involving hundreds of millions of yuan.
This private institution advertised that it would invest hundreds of thousands of yuan, and then it would be able to go to several elderly care bases of this institution for free.
In the pension contract, the name of this money is the security fund.
Why do such incidents happen frequently?
In Li Chao's view, in recent years, the number of elderly people in my country has been large and growing rapidly.
Especially in big cities, the elderly and their children have a strong demand for middle- and high-end elderly care institutions, which has given birth to a large number of private elderly care institutions.
At the same time, the elderly care industry is still in the initial stage of development, government departments’ supervision and disciplinary measures are not yet in place, and the illegal costs of private elderly care institutions are relatively low.
Tang Jun believes that one of the reasons is that the competent authorities have not effectively assumed the responsibility of supervision. In order to promote the development of the elderly care industry, they have neglected and lowered the original strict industry entry threshold; the other reason is that my country lacks the problem of collecting deposits from private elderly care institutions. Clearly defined.
According to observations, most private elderly care institutions charge deposits or prepaid fees in order to maintain the operation of the elderly care institutions, but there are no specific regulations on the amount of deposits collected and the purpose of the deposits, which causes chaos in fees and leaves regulatory loopholes.
Clarify how to charge for retirement projects
Supervise the funds of pension institutions in accordance with the law
The regulatory authorities have actually paid attention to this issue.
On September 17 this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs held a special press conference to release the newly revised "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions", which will be implemented on November 1.
Its Article 27 stipulates that elderly care institutions shall publicize the charging standards and charging basis of various service items in a conspicuous position and accept social supervision.
Article 40 of the "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions" stipulates that the civil affairs department shall strengthen the prevention, monitoring and early warning of illegal fund-raising of old-age care institutions, and if an elderly care institution is found to be suspected of illegal fund-raising, it shall be transferred to relevant departments in a timely manner in accordance with relevant regulations.
In Li Chao's view, although the "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions" has something to do with this, there are no clear regulations on whether or not to collect pension deposits and high membership fees for private elderly care institutions.
In April 2019, the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of Elderly Care Services" was issued. In the section "Strengthening the protection of elderly consumption rights and the rectification of illegal fund-raising in the elderly For marketing through the sale of prepaid "membership cards", in accordance with the principle of inclusive and prudential supervision, the restrictive conditions shall be clarified, and the third-party depository method of commercial banks shall be adopted to ensure the safe use of fund management."
However, relevant supporting systems have not yet been introduced.
Some local laws and regulations are exploring this.
On March 1, 2018, the revised "Regulations on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly in Chongqing" stipulated that if pension institutions need to collect fees such as security deposits or deposits to pay for emergency medical expenses during the stay of the elderly, the amount shall not exceed the elderly. 6 times the monthly service fee for staying in an elderly care institution.
In November 2018, the "Regulations on the Supervision of Beijing Elderly Service Institutions (Trial)" was issued, stipulating that "social elderly service institutions set their own prices in accordance with the market mechanism, charge items and standards to the public, and issue risk warnings when collecting deposits. Except for use Membership is strictly prohibited outside of self-built or self-owned facilities for elderly care service organizations. In principle, the membership fee can not exceed the valuation of the operator's collateral. Membership fees cannot be invested in risky industries."
Article 37 of the "Nanjing City Elderly Service Regulations" promulgated in January 2020 stipulates that elderly care institutions shall not induce the public to purchase elderly care service products, retirement apartments, and pre-determined services by repayment of principal and interest, payment of benefits, or agreed repurchase. Sell cards, discount cards, or invest in elderly care services.
According to Li Chao's observation, sorting out local regulations, the "Nanjing City Elderly Service Regulations" are relatively specific, and the previously announced draft also stipulated the "guarantee and deposit" clauses, but they were not reserved in the final version of the regulations.
Li Chao suggested that at the central level, you can refer to Beijing’s regulations and strictly forbid the implementation of membership, except for old-age service institutions that use self-built or self-owned facilities.
In principle, the membership fee amount cannot exceed the valuation of the operator's collateral.
At the same time, a system will be introduced as soon as possible, requiring elderly care institutions to establish a membership fee fund supervision account in the bank that holds the account, and financial institutions are responsible for the supervision and management of the membership fees of private elderly care institutions.
Gao Yunxia provided a report from the China Philanthropy Research Institute on the "Research on Membership Pension Models and Fiscal and Tax Issues" to the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily. The national policy does not completely prohibit the payment form of "membership card", but adopts tolerance and prudence. Therefore, it is possible to require elderly care institutions to collect deposits in accordance with the law; if membership services are provided, it is recommended that the government regulators require a minimum reserve ratio of funds for the elderly care service institution accounts (for example, 50% of the estimated operating expenses in the next 12 months) and commercial banks The third-party depository ratio, once the account funds are below the bottom line for a long time, an early warning can be given.
Tang Jun suggested that the issue of the collection of deposits by private elderly care institutions should be clearly stipulated at the national level in time, and a reasonable range for the collection of deposits should be established. The deposits collected can be listed in separate accounts and be supervised by the government or industry organizations to prevent private elderly care institutions from using illegal purposes. Use this money.