Senior cards to offer more choices
Print Edition
THE city will establish a “senior card alliance” that will incorporate public service venues and businesses to give more preferential treatment to Shanghai’s senior citizens.
Organizations that provide preferential treatment to the elderly will bear a unified logo for recognition and businesses will be strictly scrutinized during selection, said Zhu Qinhao, director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.
Some public medical institutions were already providing preferential treatment for the elderly when they register and go to hospitals for medicine. Now a preferential treatment service would be expanded to business areas, Zhu said.
A survey by the bureau found that hospitals, banks and scenic spots are the top three areas that seniors want covered in the expanded senior card.
The card operates like a bank debit card that is credited monthly since the city started implementing a comprehensive senior subsidy policy last May.
Authorities hope to further expand its function for elderly residents to enjoy preferential treatment in various areas.
More than 3.1 million seniors had applied for the card by the end of March, with 4.8 billion yuan (almost US$7 million) of subsidies distributed, according to Zhu.
Recipients are classified into five age groups. Those between 65 and 69 receive a monthly subsidy of 75 yuan, with centenarians getting 600 yuan.
Shanghai’s senior population in 2016 grew 5 percent from 2015 to reach 4.58 million, accounting for more than 31 percent of permanent residents.
Zhu said 73 community-based senior care centers had been set up citywide since a trial started in 2015.
These small-scale centers provide a short-term respite for seniors whose families are traveling overseas, or who need time to recover after being discharged from hospital, or those who want to see if they can adjust to life at care homes.
By the end of last year, Shanghai had 702 senior care homes with 132,800 beds.
“We aim to provide a rich and diversified senior care service system to the city’s elderly,” Zhu said.
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