From October 16-20, 2023, the Harvard China Health Partnership (HCHP) and China’s National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) jointly hosted the fifth annual Flagship Course on Effective and Sustainable Health Care Financing in Kunming, Yunnan. The course, which integrated lectures, group work, and case studies, provided a rare platform for senior policymakers and experts in China to engage with international experts. Ultimately, this collaboration aimed to provide new ideas, perspectives, and frameworks to aid China’s healthcare policy design.
Building on the successes of previous years, which encompassed a broad range of topics within China’s healthcare insurance system, this year’s course concentrated specifically on Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI). During the course, renowned experts from Germany, Japan, the United States and Singapore shared the establishment and progression of their respective countries’ financing, benefit packages, eligibility criteria and governance of long-term care insurance.
Interactive discussions were a highlight of the course. Each lecture was followed by dialogue among international and domestic experts, as well as policymakers and implementors. These in-depth discussions challenged and re-evaluated international theories that could be applied to the complex and highly divergent socioeconomic contexts in China.
The week-long course culminated in a hands-on experience for participants. On the last day of the course, participants were assigned into groups to design their own long-term care systems. Borrowing on international design principles and practices, the participants designed versions of long-term care insurance tailored to the context of the Chinese cities under their administration. These designs were subsequently presented and further refined through exchange and discussions among participants.
Empowered with the theory and practice of long-term care insurance design and implementation, we believe that participating policymakers will return to their jurisdictions and translate the lessons from the course into tangible, effective policies that improve the welfare of the residents in their provinces.
Speakers
Winnie Yip
Professor of Global Health Policy and Economics
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
William Hsiao
K.T. Li Professor of Economics, Emeritus
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Wen Chen
Professor of Health Economics & Former Dean
School of Public Health,
Fudan University
Reinhard Busse
Professor
Faculty of Economics and Management,
Technical University of Berlin
Naoki Ikegami
Professor Emeritus
School of Medicine,
Keio University
Min Hu
Associate Professor
School of Public Health,
Fudan University
Luying Zhang
Associate Professor
School of Public Health,
Fudan University
Hongqiao Fu
Associate Professor
School of Public Health,
Peking University
Qing Zhang
Professor
School of Law and Economics,
China University of Political Science and Law
Yazhen Ying
Deputy Director
National Institute of Healthcare Security
Lydia Loh
Director
Healthcare Finance,
Singapore Ministry of Health
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