Insurance with Chinese characteristics
Back in the old days, people's Danwei, or work groups were responsible for providing health care (and many other things). In these days of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the government is working to create a national health insurance system. This article makes it seem that the Chinese government is facing the same problems with public health care that other governments are facing: rising costs, motivation for providers to "over treat," and extending coverage to that last 10% of the population.China invests heavily in building basic medical insurance system
China's health care reform funds - 850 billion yuan (126 billion U.S. dollars) over three years - were mainly used to build a basic medical insurance system for urban and rural residents, said Minister of Finance Xie Xuren…
Xie made the remarks at the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC)…
Xie reported that in 2009, the government spent 399.4 billion yuan on health care, with 64.5 billion yuan on the medical insurance system, 24.6 billion yuan on public health services and 21.7 billion yuan on grassroots medical institutions in rural townships and small urban communities…
Thanks to the country's financial support, some 1.26 billion Chinese are covered by the basic medical insurance system, with 424 millon of them in cities and towns and 835 million in rural areas…
According to Vice Minister of Health Zhang Mao, improving the medical insurance system and decreasing the cost of individuals' medical treatment helps ensure affordable health services for all people.
Regarding the increased cost of health care, Zhang urged state-run hospitals to seek less profit and stop over-treating...
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Labels: China, economics, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 5:46 AM
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