Abstract: In 2013, China proposed a new model of combining medical care with elderly care, which is an innovative measure for addressing the aging population. Based on this model, the central and provincial governments and their departments have successively issued a series of normative documents to promote pilot programs on combining medical care with elderly care. However, due to the low level of these normative documents in the legal hierarchy, the relevant obligations they create exceed those provided for in the relevant upper laws, resulting in institutional obstacles to the combination of medical care with elderly care. To overcome these obstacles, efforts should be made to promote the construction of the rule of law for the combination of medical care with elderly care, so as to provide legal guarantee for the combination and meet the relevant requirements of the strategy of governing the country by law. 

Key Words: combination of medical care with elderly care, normative documents, effectiveness level, legitimacy, legal protection

Author: LI Xixia, associate research fellow, CASS Institute of International Law; associate professor, Law School of the University of CASS.

Source: 2(2024) Journal of Shanxi Normal University (Social Science Edition).