the United States federal government is mainly responsible for the social security system. The target group is mainly people who have contributed to society and have paid income tax. At the same time, one of the following conditions must be met: people who are over 65 years old or under 65 years old, but are blind or disabled for various reasons; Spouses and children of deceased beneficiaries: unemployed. The source of funds is the social security tax collected by the United States federal government. The fund collection department is the Federal Internal Revenue Service (equivalent to our IRS). The management department is the Federal Social Security Administration. The supervision department is the United States Congress. The state governments are mainly responsible for the social relief system. The target population is a difficult group without social security. There is a strict qualification examination for those who ask for relief. The source of funds is the income tax of each state. The management department is the labor or health and human resources department of each state. The supervision departments are different according to different projects. The projects that cooperate with the federal government are supervised by the Federal Social Security Bureau, and the others are supervised by the state legislature.
I. American social welfare system
(I) Social security 1. Retirement security 2. Disability welfare
(II) Medicare 1. Medicare (Part A) 2. Medicare (Part B) 3. Advantage plan of Medicare (Part C) 4. Prescription drug insurance (Part D). Unemployment insurance
II. Social relief system in the United States
(I) Relief for poverty caused by people unable to work 1. Medicaid system 2. Social security living allowance (SSI) 3. Child nutrition 4. Food stamps
(II. Relief for the working poor 1. Tax Refund Policy for Personal Income (EITC) 2. General Aid Relief (GA) 3. Temporary Aid Program for Poor Families (TANF) 4. Earn Fare < P > The highly developed economy of the United States provides a strong guarantee for the establishment of its social welfare system. The economic base determines that almost all citizens in the United States are obliged to pay taxes, and taxes are the source of government funding for social welfare. Unified collection of special taxes and stable sources of social security funds. The federal security in the United States is realized through the unified collection of special taxes. In 26, the taxes on social security in the United States accounted for more than 25% of all taxes, and social security expenditures accounted for 2% of all federal expenditures. The sources of funds for social security are well guaranteed. From this point of view, China's economic development is far from enough, and the gap between the rich and the poor is quite large. A large number of farmers and workers failed to meet the standard of paying personal income tax and could not provide sufficient taxes to serve the social welfare system. The key to fundamentally solving social welfare problems is to develop the economy and create wealth.
The basic idea and cultural concept of American social welfare is to encourage hard work, so as to ensure more, and not to raise lazy people. Therefore, the American social welfare system is aimed at people who have contributed to society and paid income tax. The value concept of formulating policies is clear, which realizes the unity of efficiency and fairness. In the United States, everyone has the obligation to pay taxes, and every taxpayer has equal opportunities to enjoy security. In the policy formulation of social welfare system, the retirement pension is based on work accumulation, which realizes the overall planning of workers who pay taxes in the whole society, taking into account the income injustice after retirement that may be caused by personal ability. At the same time, due to the tax rebate policy for low-income workers, the gap between the rich and the poor is well balanced, which reflects the fairness in secondary distribution. In terms of medical insurance, personal account is the main management mode, so that every worker who pays different medical insurance premiums can enjoy different levels of protection, which embodies the value concept of giving priority to more work, more contribution and more efficiency, and conforms to the religious culture and value system advocated by most Americans. This is very different from the situation in China. In China, many people have never paid income tax, but they have also received preferential treatment in welfare, which has raised many lazy people in China. There is a work point system in American social security: every $97 you earn, you get a social security work point, with no more than four points per year. Most people need 4 work points to qualify for retirement protection, that is, everyone must work for at least 1 years before they can receive retirement protection. Therefore, people can't and can't do nothing all day for their own security after retirement. They need to use their efforts in the first half of their lives to pay for the security in the second half. This has also contributed to the cultural concept of the United States. Everyone is active and society can develop rapidly.
in the United States, the implementation department, management department and supervision department of social welfare are completely separated, which has well practiced the western idea of decentralization. This will more effectively prevent the breeding of corruption. The social welfare management system is perfect and its operation is safe and effective. The work of population statistics is comprehensive and complete, and it has a strong ability to scientifically analyze and predict the combination of system formulation and budget that social security may face; The conditions considered in the formulation of the terms are very detailed, with little flexibility, which is convenient for practical operation; Governments at all levels have a clear responsibility for the reliable source of tax revenue for welfare, while the source, use, investment, budget and supervision of welfare funds are in completely different departments and have high security; The service function of the government network system is relatively perfect, and the policy is highly open. The security available in the United States is calculated according to the tax paid by each person in his life. Every year, the Social Security Administration will send a Social Security Income Statement to individuals who pay taxes, detailing the tax records. According to this data, everyone can estimate the amount of benefits that they and their families may receive for retirement, disability and survivors.
It is aimed at almost every American citizen, and it has a wide range of implementation, so that every citizen will not be unemployed, poor or even dead because of lack of security, which embodies a wide range of humanistic care. And the taxpayer's money is fully utilized, and it is truly taken from the people and used by the people. The legal basis for formulating policies is sufficient, and the efficiency of government funds is improved. Because the main welfare policies formulated by governments at all levels are carried out under the framework of unified federal laws and plans, the relevant standards are unified, and the sources of taxes and special funds are reliable. The service targets and tasks of governments at all levels in the social welfare system are clear, and the welfare covers a wide range of people. Its security system benefits all workers who create wealth and pay taxes for the society, and the relief system benefits people who need relief, but at the same time, not everyone has their own security account, which improves the efficiency of government funds.
giving full play to the autonomous power of state governments is conducive to taking concrete and effective safeguard measures according to specific conditions. For example, in the Employment Encouragement Funding Project, Earnfare Funding Project is an incentive policy provided by state and local governments to help adults who eat food stamps but are in good health and are willing to support themselves. Give more preference to adults with children. The services provided include: assessment of participants and vocational training. In each state, there are many relief projects that are in line with local conditions. In West Virginia, there are more than 16 self-determined policies for babies, children and women.
In terms of public medical assistance, most free services are provided, and the funds are paid directly to medical providers. In general hospitals, Medicare, which is usually paid by the federal government, accounts for 34% of the total income of medical expenses, Medicaid, 3‰ of which is paid for by local governments, 3% is commercial insurance, and 6% is uninsured and charitable by hospitals. China's health insurance, however, can only get the insurance money after the event, and the procedure is troublesome, and the insurance amount is very few. This has also created the specific problem of "difficulty in seeing a doctor" in China.
In terms of child protection, the United States not only pays attention to children's education, medical care and other places, but also writes its nutrition problems into the welfare system, which can be described as meticulous. Child Nutrition Program is a project that the US Department of Agriculture provides healthy diet support and comprehensive nutrition education for children and related families, including 15 federal government nutrition support projects. One in six children enjoys these benefits. Including the public school breakfast project, lunch project and food supply for women, babies and children in the food aid program of the Ministry of Agriculture; Nutrition education and health care recommendation. The project is co-operated by the federal and state governments. The federal government is generally responsible for the food costs in the project, and the management costs are shared with the states. The federal government is responsible for interpreting relevant regulations and instructions, establishing national standards, determining the content of the project and establishing regional offices to supervise the States to ensure the project. In 1997, 75% of USDA's budget, US$ 59 billion, was used for this project.
Another item with American characteristics is food stamps. Food Stamps are relief programs planned by the federal government and implemented by state or local government agencies. Its purpose is to help low-income people buy food. The conditions of recipients are: blind and disabled legal immigrants who receive disability subsidies or benefits; In 1996, he reached the age of 65 or above, and at the same time, he had poor people living legally in the United States. Generally speaking, it refers to families with assets of less than $2,, or families with elderly people over 6 and assets of less than $3, (excluding real estate, land and cars).
Although the welfare system in the United States is so complete and has many advantages, we can't ignore its shortcomings. According to the research of Congress, the proportion of workers supporting the retired elderly was 16: 1 in 195, 3.3: 1 in 26 and 2: 1 in 28. With the emergence of the problem of aging, by 217, according to the existing policy, the government's guaranteed tax revenue will not be enough to support the retired elderly. Social security is an issue that every government pays close attention to. The American government is actively seeking a new policy system.
Finally, no matter how advanced the American system is, it can only be a reference for us in China. We should extract a reasonable form suitable for China's development from its system for our use. It is important to set out from reality and national conditions to establish a social welfare system with our own characteristics.