March 15 Q&A | Where are the insurance gaps for special groups? China PICC Life Insurance provides the answers~

“Mom keeps complaining to me that everything these days is done by phone, or done by machines……”

“There are so many people with chronic illnesses now, so we have to get them to buy insurance, right?”

“For services for elderly people like us, can’t there be a simpler option?”

On March 15, China Financial Media hit the streets and heard the real voices of consumers during financial consumption.

In a live-stream special event by China Financial Media in 2026 themed “Uphold a Clear and Orderly Financial Network, Safeguard Peaceful Consumption”—the “3·15 Please Answer” live event—we invited Yuan Yueling, Party Committee Member and Vice President of China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company, to answer the many questions of financial consumers on the spot.

Q

For these special groups—elderly people, newly employed groups, and persons with disabilities—where are their insurance gaps?

A

Yuan Yueling, Party Committee Member and Vice President, China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company: Like elderly people, newly employed groups, and persons with disabilities, these groups have high protection needs and are also the ones who need insurance protection support the most. However, there are relatively few dedicated insurance products on the market. And for these groups, their pain points and needs in allocating insurance products are also different—we’ll discuss them separately.

For elderly people, the state has always attached great importance to them. For example, the new “Ten Guiding Policies for Insurance” for the insurance industry clearly calls for “actively developing the third-pillar pension insurance” and “developing commercial long-term care insurance,” both of which are responses to the pension and care needs that elderly people care about most. Elderly friends mainly worry about getting sick, having no one to take care of them, and how to handle retirement—but when buying insurance, their options are narrow due to age and health issues. In this case, I suggest considering first using a universal benefit plan like “Hui Min Bao” as a baseline, and then stacking products such as million-medical insurance, critical illness insurance, and accidental injury insurance for the elderly based on needs. If funds allow, you can also allocate commercial pension insurance and care insurance products to better meet pension and care needs. Of course, because many products have restrictions on the eligible entry age, it’s still recommended that everyone plan as early as possible while they’re young and in good health.

For newly employed groups, for flexible workers like delivery riders and ride-hailing drivers, their scale has already exceeded 200 million. The state also has clear guidance—for example, encouraging insurance companies to focus on new urban residents and flexible employment workers and carry out businesses such as accident and injury insurance for new employment forms. The advice for this group is to first participate in employee medical and pension insurance based on their flexible employment status. On that basis, they can further allocate some dedicated accident and medical insurance with low premiums and strong targeting, to cover occupational risks first. Then, when appropriate, supplement with critical illness insurance and commercial pension insurance, so that protection for both illness and pension is comprehensively covered.

For persons with disabilities, the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Inclusive Insurance” also emphasizes that we should actively develop and provide insurance products and services that are suitable for the risk characteristics and protection needs of persons with disabilities. This group can choose targeted dedicated accident insurance based on their type and level of disability, focusing on the convenience of services. At the same time, they can use inclusive benefit plans like “Hui Min Bao” to cover medical expenses as a backstop. In addition, because many savings-based products have relatively relaxed requirements for health conditions, if funds allow, they can be allocated at the right time to make life more secure.

No matter which group, when choosing an insurance product, you must pay attention to selecting a product that fits your actual needs and ability to pay.

Q

What new initiatives does China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company have for these special groups?

A

**Yuan Yueling: For elderly people, our 1,700+ business outlets’ counter services have all completed accessibility upgrades. We set up green channels to provide in-home services for special groups such as elderly customers and persons with disabilities. At the same time, all our online service platforms have completed accessibility upgrades as well—larger fonts, simpler layouts, and even voice prompts—so elderly people can use them more easily.

We also specifically designed differentiated disease insurance, medical insurance, and pension annuity products for special circumstances such as elderly people’s age and health conditions, so they can buy the right insurance and reduce the financial pressure of medical treatment and retirement. For example, the company’s “Jia Hu Yi Sheng 2025 (Double Ninth Edition)” is a dedicated critical cancer insurance product that allows customers aged 46 to 75 to apply. Compared with critical illness insurance, underwriting is more flexible, and it can cover malignant tumors with a relatively high incidence rate. In terms of services, we have the “Warm Heart Sui Yue” health and wellness service system, which combines different pension scenarios with medical health and nursing care. It currently covers 14 provinces and 24 prefecture-level cities, providing more than 20,000 beds.

For persons with disabilities, I’d like to specifically mention the “Care for the Stars” program. It mainly targets families of people with intellectual disabilities. Their biggest worry is, “What will happen to the child if the parents are gone?” So, in 2022, we worked with the Association for Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities to launch the “Care for the Stars” program. This program not only provides inclusive insurance protection for families of people with intellectual disabilities and, through joint trust companies, provides special trust services, but also helps these families lay a more secure path for the future through public welfare activities, legal services, guardianship planning, and more. Now, this program has cumulatively designed plans for more than 3,000 families of people with intellectual disabilities and provides integrated accidental risk protection totaling 480 million yuan, with a particularly positive response.

For newly employed groups—such as ride-hailing drivers—income is unstable, and pension protection is often a big challenge. China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company designed a dedicated commercial pension insurance for them. Premium payments can be adjusted flexibly—if their income is higher, they pay a bit more; if it’s lower, they pay a bit less. Online operations are also convenient. This project has already covered more than 100 cities nationwide and is close to 100,000 drivers.

For ethnic minority compatriots, in some outlets in Qinghai, Yunnan, and Xinjiang, we have specifically set up “Ethnic Minority Service Windows.” We also specially formed ethnic minority service teams that understand local languages and insurance business, so it’s easier for ethnic minority compatriots to handle services.

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