Elderly Anti-Cancer Mutual Aid: Why Xiang Hu Bao's Contributions Are Several Times KangAi Commune's

The principle of mutual aid is that the wool comes from the sheep: the aid a recipient receives is the result of contributions from participants.

In the end, each person's contribution is determined by the mutual aid rules.

Those rules include the health requirements for joining, the age limits, the amount of aid, the circumstances in which aid is and is not provided, and so on — together these determine how high the contributions come to. Take the simplest case: all else being equal, where the upper age limit for aid is 60 in one case and 70 in another, the latter will certainly have noticeably higher contributions.

Xiang Hu Bao's elderly anti-cancer plan provides a maximum of 100,000 yuan; KangAi Commune's elderly anti-cancer plan provides a maximum of 60,000 yuan.

Xiang Hu Bao's health requirements for joining its elderly anti-cancer plan are loose, and quite a few elderly people in poor health can join; KangAi Commune's requirements are strict, and some common conditions of old age, such as blood pressure above a certain level, bar entry.

The review and anti-fraud mechanisms also differ: KangAi Commune has a review deposit system, for example, and Xiang Hu Bao does not.

Xiang Hu Bao charges an 8 percent fee; KangAi Commune charges 2 percent.

And so on.

These factors mean Xiang Hu Bao's contributions are several times KangAi Commune's, and the gap may widen further in future.

This article is not about which is better or worse. It is to remind members that rights and obligations in mutual aid are symmetrical. For everyone, understanding a mutual aid commune's health requirements before joining is of the utmost importance.