The government will bear a greater share of the costs for health
care and basic treatment, and redress imbalances in access to
medical services.
And a blueprint for the implementation of the changes will be
worked out by a high-powered panel set up recently, Yin Dakui,
president of the China Medical Doctor Association, said.
A long-standing grievance has been that most Chinese do not have
access to affordable health care while a privileged few hog most of
the resources, Yin said.
"The government must consider the issue of fairness while
formulating a new health policy; and it must bear the cost of basic
health care for all," Yin, also a former vice health minister, was
yesterday quoted as saying by China Youth Daily.
A team of 11 State Council departments with the minister of the
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the health
minister as co-chairs, has been set up, Wang Dongsheng, deputy
director of the Social Development Department of the NDRC, told a
forum on Sunday.
Their revamp plan could be announced before next spring, Wang
told the forum in Shanghai.
The issues they will address are likely to be the vast amount of
funds pumped into big hospitals, increasing medical costs and a
wide lack of medical insurance.
For example, of all government spending on medical treatment, 80
percent is used for only about 8.5 million people, mainly officials
at various levels.
But nearly half of all people who need medical attention do not
go to see doctors because they cannot afford it, according to a
national survey on medical service in 2003.
The main target of the reform is to establish a national health
system which is equitable and available to all, said a Ministry of
Health official who did not want to be named.
The central government has already taken big strides in that
direction by expanding services in urban communities and township
hospitals in the past five years.
In the next five years, the central government will spend 20
billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) to help rural hospitals and clinics
improve technology, upgrade equipment and attract talents.
Currently, 80 percent of medical resources, including a big
chunk of the world's best equipment, are gobbled up by big
hospitals in cities, which are home to only 500 million of the
country's 1.3 billion residents.
Although most of these big hospitals are either state-owned or
non-profit institutions, financial assistance from the government
has been dwindling and so they rely on high-priced drugs and
diagnostics to keep operating.
The Ministry of Health official said the government would use
more tax revenues to directly set up hospitals providing free
primary medical care for all, especially the poor, the elderly, the
jobless, and the disabled.
The government will also help more people secure medical
insurance coverage, he said.
According to the 2003 survey, about 45 percent of urban and 80
percent of rural residents had no medical insurance.
In the past several years, the government has helped 156 million
farmers join a "rural cooperation medical system".
The system pools money from the central government, usually 10
(US$1.2) to 20 yuan (US$2.4) per person, and a similar amount from
local governments and the farmers themselves. The money is used to
treat major illnesses.
The system will cover all 800 million rural residents by 2010,
according to the ministry.
(China Daily September 20, 2006)