During a routine quarterly press conference held by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on July 30, Li Wanli, a spokesperson and deputy director of the General Office, announced that a program providing consumption subsidies for elderly care services to seniors with moderate to severe disabilities has, to date, facilitated the nationwide redemption of 10.7992 million consumption vouchers. These redemptions amounted to 6.512 billion yuan, stimulating 29.093 billion yuan in elderly care service spending. The initiative has benefited over 1.9986 million elderly individuals with disabilities.

Launched nationwide earlier this year by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, building on earlier pilot projects, the subsidy program will run through the end of December 2026. Eligible recipients are seniors assessed as having moderate, severe, or complete disability levels. Individuals currently receiving support such as extreme poverty assistance or concentrated care subsidies for economically disadvantaged disabled seniors are not eligible.

The subsidies are provided as electronic discount vouchers, intended to offset costs for eligible elderly care services. A key feature of the program is that it removes household registration restrictions, allowing qualifying seniors nationwide to apply for the vouchers in their current place of residence. The subsidies cover services across home-based, community, and institutional elderly care settings. Additionally, the policy can be combined with long-term care insurance. For elderly individuals with moderate to severe disabilities who are already receiving long-term care insurance benefits, the electronic vouchers can be applied to the out-of-pocket portion of their eligible elderly care expenses after accounting for any insurance payments received, following the specified reimbursement ratio.