After paying a deposit of 200000 yuan, a certain elderly care institution only refunded 50000 yuan after the elderly passed away. Delaying the refund has become a pain point in elderly care - how to solve the problem of "difficult refund" in prepaid elderly care services? Reading tips: Professionals believe that the release of the "Guidelines for Pre paid Deposit Management in Elderly Care Institutions" is conducive to further simplifying the refund process, improving efficiency, and solving the pain points of delayed refunds. In addition, it is necessary to establish a nationwide unified platform for pre fee supervision of elderly care institutions, to achieve real-time visualization of the flow of funds in dedicated accounts and improve the accuracy of supervision. What if the elderly person passes away and the nursing home does not refund the deposit? ”Recently, Ms. Li from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province reported to reporters that her father-in-law moved into a nursing home in Panyu District, Guangzhou in 2019, and her family paid a deposit of 200000 yuan for her. In October 2023, Ms. Li's grandfather passed away. According to the contract, the institution should fully refund the deposit, but the other party evaded it for various reasons. After multiple communications, only 50000 yuan has been refunded so far. The reporter's interview found that in recent years, the demand for elderly care services in the market has been continuously expanding, but some elderly care institutions have problems in collecting and refunding fees. Some reduce liability through contract format clauses, which makes it difficult for elderly people and their families to receive refunds for prepaid elderly care services. Some have multiple prepaid items and opaque service standards, resulting in a heavy burden on family elderly care. In November of this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State Administration for Financial Regulation issued the "Guidelines for Pre paid Custody of Elderly Care Institutions" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines"), requiring elderly care institutions to collect deposits and membership fees through custodian banks in principle. For payments received through other payment institutions or cash, they should be transferred or deposited into a dedicated deposit account on the day of receipt (no later than the next day). In terms of refunds, the Guidelines require that for those who meet the requirements of the elderly care service agreement and should be refunded according to relevant regulations, the elderly care institution should promptly submit a refund application to the custodian bank. After verifying the relevant information, the custodian bank shall refund the remaining fees in one lump sum through the original channel on the day of submission of the refund application (at the latest the next day). How can these measures effectively solve the difficulty of refunding prepaid elderly care services? A family member is facing difficulties in refunding their deposit. According to the contract provided by Ms. Li, in 2019, her family purchased a "deposit payment service package" for her grandfather, with a term of 15 years and a total deposit of 200000 yuan. Ms. Li told reporters that in addition to a deposit of 200000 yuan, her family members also need to pay a monthly fee of 1600 yuan for three person room beds, 600 yuan for management, 1200 yuan for meals, and 2200 yuan for first level care services to the elderly care institution, totaling 5600 yuan per month. In addition, there is a reserve fund of 10000 yuan. The reporter noticed that the above-mentioned contract also includes a "special agreement on the refund of the deposit", which states that "if Party B applies for a refund after one year of actual occupancy, the principal will be refunded without interest". After my grandfather passed away, the other party used various excuses to delay and refused to refund the deposit. "Ms. Li said that after multiple negotiations, she only needs to return 50000 yuan at present. In the communication records provided by Ms. Li, the reporter saw that the elderly care institution sent a bank transfer screenshot on February 29, 2024, stating that "the first installment of 50000 yuan has been paid". This indicates that there was more than one issue, but there was no follow-up afterwards, and the institution did not respond again, "Ms. Li said. Professor Xue Jun from Peking University Law School stated in an interview with reporters that prepaid elderly care services are essentially prepaid products, characterized by consumers prepaying fees in advance and delaying the enjoyment of services. In this situation, the seller will quickly form a fund pool, which can easily lead to situations where the seller collects money but uses it for other purposes, or sets extremely strict refund conditions. Deng Yong, director of the Health Law Research and Innovation Transformation Center at Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a professor in the Law Department of the School of Humanities, told reporters that some elderly care institutions do not have standardized fund management, such as not using a dedicated account to store prepaid fees, and the funds are misappropriated for expansion, operation, and other purposes, resulting in insufficient funds to support refunds. A few institutions have a subjective willingness to maliciously delay refunds, taking advantage of the asymmetry of information and weak awareness of rights protection among the elderly and their families to avoid responsibility. ”Deng Yong said. Some elderly care institutions have opaque service fees. Journalists have learned that in addition to the difficulty of refunding fees, some elderly care institutions also have problems such as numerous and opaque service fees. The reporter contacted the elderly care institution where Ms. Li's grandfather stayed as a consumer. In the service price list sent by the other party, the reporter saw that there were bed fees, management fees, meal fees, nursing fees, extra package fees, deposits and other items. The nursing fee is divided into seven types by the institution: elderly care, maintenance level three, maintenance level two, maintenance level one, cognitive level three, cognitive level two, and cognitive level one. The nursing fee ranges from 1050 yuan to 3550 yuan. Regarding the questions raised by the reporter about how to determine nursing fees and whether there are detailed service content guidelines, the other party stated that "nursing levels cannot be selected and are evaluated by the central hospital, nurses, and social workers." "Different nursing levels result in different service content. But the other party did not provide specific service details and evaluation standards to the reporter. Mr. Zhou, who once purchased services from a certain elderly care institution for his family, also stated that different fees correspond to different levels of services, allowing the elderly and their families to purchase according to their needs. This is understandable, but in reality, the service fees and types of many elderly care institutions are not transparent, lacking service details, and there is no third-party organization to supervise their services. Deng Yong believes that the supervision of prepaid elderly care services should be strengthened. Elderly pensions and savings are mostly essential funds for elderly care, and the difficulty of refunds will directly cause economic losses to the elderly and their families, affecting their medical and living security. This phenomenon will also damage the credibility of the elderly care industry, leading to a crisis of trust among the elderly and society towards elderly care institutions. The relevant measures in the Guidelines are conducive to further simplifying the refund process, improving efficiency, and addressing the pain points of delayed refunds. ”Deng Yong gave an example that the pre fee special deposit account system can limit the use of funds and enforce the collection and management of funds, preventing fund misappropriation from the source and providing financial security for refunds. In Xue Jun's opinion, setting a limit on prepaid amounts through policies and strengthening the supervision of special accounts can effectively avoid problems such as difficulty in returning large amounts of funds. But at the same time, it is necessary to consider whether this will affect the efficiency of fund utilization and lead to financial pressure for some elderly care institutions. In recent years, many places have introduced targeted measures to strengthen the supervision of prepaid elderly care services. For example, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau and other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Measures for the Supervision of Prepaid Fees in Elderly Care Institutions in Shanghai", which proposed that the one-time prepayment of elderly care service fees such as bed fees, care and nursing fees, and meal fees by elderly care institutions should not exceed three months, and encouraged them to charge fees based on the number of months of pre adoption of elderly care service fees and provide corresponding discounts. Deng Yong suggested that a unified national platform for pre payment supervision of elderly care institutions should be established to achieve real-time visualization of the flow of funds in dedicated accounts, automatically warn of abnormal fund flows, and improve the accuracy and efficiency of supervision. In addition, small and private non registered elderly care institutions should be gradually included in the pre fee supervision system to avoid regulatory blind spots, refine the provision ratio and management methods of risk deposits, and further enhance their risk resistance capabilities. (New Society)