Research On The Social Insurance Systems Comparison Among America, Germany And Japan

As the core content of social security system, social insurance is the inevitable product under the condition of commodity socialization, is the indispensable and important component in the system of a country, and also is an important symbol of progress for the human civilization. Due to its particular status, great effects, and wide influence, social insurance has become a hot topic in every country, various organizations and groups, and become a hot spot in the research of economics, sociology, law, political science, ethics and other subjects.As major developed capitalism countries, America, Germany and Japan have become the representative of several vital economic models of mature market economy with perspective characteristics in aspect of social security. Germany is the first country in the world to establish social insurance system, and America is the first to use the phrase social security, while Japan is the first to promote social security system. This thesis makes comparison of social insurance system in these three countries with the purpose to stimulate the construction and improvement of China's social insurance system.Social insurance is the compulsory insurance implemented by state to ensure the basic life of labors against unavoidable risk. New historical school of Germany, Welfare Economics, Keynesianism Economics, and National Insurance Thinking of Lenin's, Welfare State Theory of Beveridge's , Swedish School and the Third Path Theory, etc. all play important roles in the establishment and development of social insurance; Social security thinks in consumption theory, like neo-liberal economic theory and other economic theories promote the reformation of social insurance system.Due to the influence of different social insurance theory, different historical background and culture tradition, though the social insurance systems are similar, there are differences in management system, security level, fund-raising and operating model. America and Japan adopt the management model of direct government management and combination of power centralization and decentralization, where major projects are managed centrally while common or special ones are distributed to departments or areas. Germany which is a typical model of decentralized management and self-management adopts the Third Road between the insurance system completely controlled by the country and one completely controlled by market. America is mainly tax-financing while in Germany and Japan, the main form of capital-raising is social insurance fees. Usually the trust fund of America can only invest in government bonds or state-backed bonds while most of Japan's old-age pension insurance reserves are for social investment and create massive losses.The system of old-age pension plan is the foremost in social insurance systems of these three countries. The coverage of old-age pension insurance is large with higher population rate. The progress of old-age pension insurance expansion varies with the different conditions in three countries. The old-age pension insurance of Japan achieves a universal coverage through basic annuity system. These three countries face common problems of the aging population, the inequality of inter-generational obligation, high pressure of fund operation. Problems of high unemployment, high welfare and high labor costs faced by Germany and the hollowing out of national old-age pension annuity face by Japan also challenge the system of social insurance. In order to ensure the sustainability of old-age pension insurance fund, measures such as improving tax (fee) rates, extending the minimum payment period, lowering the level of treatment, delaying the age of payment, strengthening fund collection and management, and promoting privatization reform are taken by these three countries to build a multi-pillar old-age pension system.The Medicare insurancee of America focuses on the general adoption of market principle where federal insurance scheme only applies to the elderly and the disabled, while, the legal medical insurance of Germany and Japan covers almost all citizens, and also implements care insurance to handle the aging problem of population. There is a wide controversy in America on its public medical insurance. Struggles among various interest groups delay the development of legal medical insurance. The common aims of these three countries are letting all citizens have a better access to health insurance, and controlling the accelerating increase of medical fees. The three countries take different measures according to characteristics of buyers and suppliers. The sustainability of medical insurance system is doubted as it have make frequent reforms on medical insurance especially old-age pension insurance system due to the sharp increase of medical insurance expenditure.For unemployment insurance, they all hold the same opinion that the best way to solve unemployment is to develop economy and promote employment. The three countries have better experience in enlarging employment, controlling unemployment, unemployment relief, promotion of re-employment and other aspect. Especially, when collecting fees of unemployment insurance, Japan distributes directly the part paid by enterprises to promote the project of re-employment, which embodies that enterprises take more responsibilities in promoting reemployment.The coverage of occupational injury insurance of these three countries is larger with non-fault compensation principle as the basic characteristic. They strengthen the occupational injury insurance by taking economic means of related laws on labor protection, differential rates and floating rates, and receive good results. They focus on industrial rehabilitation such as medical rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation and social rehabilitation of Germany, which embody good human care.Social insurance systems of the three countries have a lot in common, which represents the basic conception of social insurance system, at the same time, they have respective characteristics which can be used as reference.The social insurance system of new China experienced stages as national insurance, the insurance unite local insurance and social insurance. With reforming and developing for almost 20 years, the social insurance system which is adaptable to socialist market economic system has begun to take shape. The coverage of social insurance is enlarging gradually and the management is more and more standardized. Social insurance plays an indispensable role in economical society, however, the contradiction of need and supply is still prudent, the building of legal system is still backward and problems of old-age pension insurance fund still need to be solved. The aging of the population, the rural urbanization, the variety of employment forms, economic globalization bring up higher requirements for the improvement of social insurance system. China should actively learn from the experiences and lessons of other countries, investigate and develop the cause of social insurance in a bigger environment of economic society, through this way, can the social insurance system plays a real role in promoting economic development and harmonious progress of society.At present, by phased payment of basic old-age pension, improvement of planning level, and setting up personal accounts for all the people in cities and towns, the labor movement can be solved; By enlarging the coverage of social insurance, enhancing fund collection, improving the efficiency of fund operation, and reforming the planned payment of old-age pension, etc. the sustainability of funds can be solved; By combination with exploration on the medical insurance and social insurance, common insurance of family members, grants to special groups, the coverage of medical insurance can be extended in stable steps; Through deepening reform to the system of health care, repositioning of the nature of sentinel medical unites and more control on the increase trend of medical expenses, let more people enjoy a better medical and health service; Taking employment promotion as the key purpose, reform the system of unemployment insurance, and set up the linkage mechanism between unemployment insurance and employment promotion to accumulate the system of unemployment compensation + employment promotion + subsistence guarantee; Moreover take the medical insurance as the key point for establishing the system of social insurance in the countryside, and actively accumulate old-age insurance and social insurance for landless farmers.