Reading the Core Value of the Mutual Aid Model and the Legitimacy of Critical-Illness Mutual Aid Through the State's New Policy on Mutual Aid Elderly Care

Recently, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and 10 other departments jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting the Development of Mutual Aid Elderly Care Services, setting out for the first time at the national level an official definition and development goals for mutual aid elderly care, and pointing a new direction for building China's elderly care service system. This policy document, grounded in people's livelihood and suited to national conditions, heartens me greatly. The policy's push for a standardized mutual aid model in elderly care is not only a major breakthrough for the elderly care industry, but also carries strong endorsement and guidance value for the critical-illness mutual aid work we are advancing today.

Today, the word 'mutual aid' has long been abused and distorted. Many people are prejudiced against various mutual aid models, and some even equate them directly with scams, leaving legitimate mutual aid and public-welfare models under constant suspicion. This joint document from multiple state departments, however, formally recognizes, defines, and vigorously promotes mutual aid services — fully confirming that the mutual aid model is a legitimate, viable service model that fits people's livelihood needs. This thoroughly breaks the public's entrenched prejudice, clears the name of all legitimate mutual aid businesses, and gives the critical-illness mutual aid cause we are dedicated to clear policy support and solid official endorsement.

From the policy's core, the mutual aid model is not a single form but includes multiple types such as service mutual aid, time mutual aid, and value mutual aid. The mutual aid elderly care defined in the document centers on voluntary, non-profit assistance services among neighbors and community residents, covering scenarios such as daily care, neighborly help, and professional support. But in a market economy, all mutual aid services essentially carry a quantifiable value attribute — which is the core key to making various mutual aid models implementable and sustainable over the long term.

The 'time bank' model widely used in the industry today converts volunteers' elderly-care assistance into a dedicated time reserve that can later be redeemed for an equivalent duration of elderly care — in essence, a deferred cashing-in of the value of a service. On closer examination, however, the value of different services is not equal and necessarily requires differentiated valuation according to market rules. For example, the health care and consultation assistance provided by a professional with medical credentials is utterly different in expertise, scarcity, and labor value from the basic companionship and daily help offered by an ordinary volunteer — and the corresponding service values are worlds apart.

This means that whether it is time storage, service redemption, or conversion of entitlements, all mutual aid services ultimately come down to market-based value assessment. Various forms of mutual aid may look like an exchange of services or time, but in essence they are equivalent exchanges of labor value and service value, all of which can be converted into standardized value mutual aid.

On this logic, we need not deliberately avoid or shy away from mutual aid in its value and monetary dimensions. Whether elderly care mutual aid or critical-illness mutual aid, standardized value conversion and transparent equality of entitlements are the core underlying logic by which the mutual aid model escapes disorder and achieves lasting development. State policy affirms the livelihood value of the mutual aid model, while market-based rules for quantifying value can make that model more standardized, fairer, and more sustainable. Facing up to the value essence of mutual aid and openly embracing a standardized value mutual aid model is the key to the steady and far-reaching progress of every kind of mutual aid endeavor.