With China’s rapid progress towards developing a market economy, the Government has also decided to reform its health care system.

China is hoping to extend its basic health insurance scheme which currently supports 90% of the population by a further 440 million people. The extension would take in many of those who are not covered who live in urban areas of the country.

Public health in China has for many years been chronically underfunded. As such, the Chinese have been complaining that they get poor accessibility while still having to pay through the nose.

One of the major problems currently faced by families is having any savings wiped out if there is a major health crisis. Costs are very high. At the same time, it is hard for many families to set aside sufficient financial resources to cover medical bills.

Alongside this insurance reform is a separate reform of the hospital system, which is also considered too expensive. Part of the problem is hospitals overcharging for medical treatment or doctors prescribing very expensive drugs in order to help cover hospital costs. The Chinese Government has criticised hospitals that do this. It says they waste scarce resources and put a heavy burden on patients.

The reforms so far are encouraging at a local primary care level, but they are a major challenge as far as hospital care is concerned.