In rural areas, December at the end of the year is the peak period for contributions. One of the most important costs is the "New Rural Cooperative Medical System" fee, which is also a cost that rural residents must face. Farmers who used to pay in September or October for this year's NCMS fees now start collecting them closer to December. This means that the whole of December will be the day for village cadres to pay for the NCMS every day, because December 31 is the deadline for payment, and whether they can enjoy the medical insurance in 2024 will depend on whether they pay on these days. NCMS medical insurance is very important for rural residents and has reduced the medical burden of many families. However, the payment of NCMS is not mandatory, and millions of farmers have chosen to stop paying because of the ** of **. It is expected that this year's **again**, I believe that many people will choose not to pay.
For farmers, paying the NCMS fee means that they can enjoy one year of medical security. However, in reality, many families do not be able to afford this every year. In particular, after the abolition of the agricultural tax, the income of rural residents has not been substantially increased, and the pressure on their livelihood is still very great. As a result, many families are faced with the difficult choice of whether or not to continue to participate in NCMS. With the increase in prices and the cost of living, more and more people have to give up participating in NCMS and choose to pay for their own medical expenses. This has undoubtedly had a significant impact on their financial situation and health care.
Rural health costs are a relatively small but essential expense. With the deepening of the rural revitalization strategy, the improvement of human settlements has become one of the evaluation indicators. To this end, villages are equipped with garbage bins, trucks and sanitation workers to improve the appearance of the villages. After several years of hard work, many rural areas have been rejuvenated and have the appearance of beautiful villages. However, this beauty needs to be maintained by the villagers. The most direct way to maintain it is to pay a sanitation fee, and each household has to pay a certain fee to the village cadres every year to strengthen the rural environment.
The payment of sanitation fees is an important part of ensuring a clean and hygienic environment in rural areas. In rural areas, the improvement of the living environment has become an important part of rural construction. By equipping garbage disposal facilities and sanitation personnel, the problem of garbage in rural areas has been effectively solved. However, the beautiful countryside requires the joint efforts of every villager. It is only through the payment of health fees that the continuous improvement of sanitation in rural areas can be ensured. Although this cost is relatively small for each family, it can effectively guarantee the quality of the environment and the quality of life of residents in rural areas.
With the arrival of December, especially the gradual strengthening of cold air, winter heating has become a problem that farmers must face. However, many people will be confused why rural areas also need to pay heating billsCan't farmers burn coal, kang, and firewood as they did in the past?This brings us to the concept of a no-mine zone. With the advancement of new energy and clean energy policies, the delineation and implementation of coal ban zones have become an important task. In the no-coal zone, farmers are not allowed to use traditional loose coal, straw and firewood for heating, but need to switch to electricity or natural gas, which they have to pay for. Due to the large space and poor sealing of rural housing, the cost of gas is much higher than that of the city, even if there are some local subsidies, the heating cost is at least several thousand yuan, or even as high as 10,000 yuan. Due to the increase in heating costs this year and the lack of subsidies in some areas, many farmers have to face higher and higher heating costs.
As the weather gets colder, the heating problem has become the focus of farmers' attention. Especially in the coal-free zone, farmers have to look for other ways to heat their homes. When coal-fired heating is banned, rural residents can only solve the heating problem by "coal-to-electricity" or "coal-to-gas". However, there is a fee for both methods. Rural areas have larger living spaces and poorer house sealing, resulting in much higher gas usage costs than in cities. Even if there are some localities** that provide subsidies, the heating costs of rural residents each winter are a significant expense. This has undoubtedly increased the economic burden on some rural families whose economic conditions are not very well-off.
In rural areas, December is also the time to pay pension insurance contributions, which is the last payment of the year. However, many farmers do not pay this fee, the reason is simple, the pension in the countryside is too low, for most farmers, the pension of one or two hundred yuan per month is almost not attractive, why spend hundreds or thousands of yuan to pay?Therefore, despite the increasing annual costs, there are still many people who choose not to pay pension insurance premiums.
The payment of rural pension insurance premiums has gradually become an economic burden for farmers. Due to the relatively poor economic conditions in rural areas, the level of pension payment is correspondingly low. Although efforts have been made to raise the standard of pension payment, for most farmers, the monthly pension is only one or two hundred yuan, which is hardly attractive. As a result, many farmers choose not to pay pension insurance premiums, which also leads to them not enjoying the benefits provided by pension insurance. This situation has made the economic pressure on the lives of the elderly in rural areas even greater, and it has also reduced their confidence in the pension system.
To sum up, December is the peak period for rural contributions, and farmers have to face four types of expenses: NCMS fees, sanitation fees, heating fees, and pension insurance fees. Although the notion of a lower cost of living in rural areas still exists, this is not the case, and the consumption thinking and charging standards in rural areas are in line with those in urban areas. Rural residents have to face more and more cost pressure, which is also a problem that needs to be faced and solved in the process of rural revitalization.