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Chinese farmers enjoy cheap neighborhood medical service (2) |
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10:56, October 12, 2008 |
NEW RURAL COOPERATIVE MEDICAL SYSTEM
About two decades after the old cooperative fund program on medical expense collapsed in the countryside, China launched a new rural cooperative medical care program in 2003 to offer basic healthcare to rural residents who have virtually no medical insurance.
Under the program, a farmer participant pays 10 yuan a year while the state, provincial, municipal and county governments jointly contribute 40 yuan for the cooperative fund.
When rural residents fall seriously ill, the pooled funds cover part of their medical costs. Coverage varies by illness and actual expenses.
The national new-type rural cooperative medical treatment system has gone ahead smoothly from pilot operation to all-round promotion stage, said Chen Zhu, the health minister.
However, some provinces in the central and western parts of the country failed to meet the standard, mainly because individuals in poverty-stricken areas hadn''t increased their participation.
To date, the scheme has covered 91 percent of total farmers and 98 percent rural areas through March, said Mao Qun''an of the Ministry of Health.
A total of 42.8 billion yuan was pooled by the fund in 2007, compared with only 4 billion yuan in 2003.
The fund paid out about 59.1 billion yuan over the past five years in reimbursements for 920 million claims.
"The program has helped ease the chronic difficulty faced by Chinese farmers in paying medical charges and significantly improved rural medical services," said Chen Zhu.
"China is working to establish a stable money-raising channel for the fund and efforts will be made to ensure that central and local government subsidies are allocated to the fund quickly and used efficiently," said Chen.
But experts believe there is a long way to go before the cooperative scheme can meet the needs of rural people.
Wu Ming, professor with the medical school of Peking University, said "With an average reimbursement rate for hospital fees only standing at a meager 27.5 percent, the current subsidiesa re still utterly inadequate in dealing with grave and terminal diseases."
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