China will launch a pilot project of medical insurance this year to cover 240 million unemployed urban residents, who were once excluded by the medicare net, said a senior official on Wednesday.
The program, to be carried out in 79 cities in the trial stage and planned to cover urban children, students and jobless adults, will eventually bring all urban residents under the umbrella of medical insurance by 2010, Hu Xiaoyi, vice minister of labor and social security, said at a press conference.
China established a medical insurance system for urban employees in 1998.
As a new cooperative medical care system has been implemented in rural areas since 2003, which has covered more than 700 million rural residents out of the total 800 million, the new urban program, if successful, means all Chinese residents can have an access to medical insurance, Hu said.
According to Hu, the premiums under the pilot urban program will be paid by households, instead of individuals. The government will give each participant a subsidy of at least 40 yuan (5.3 U.S. dollars) annually, and low-income families and disabled ones can get extra subsidies.
Hu said 50 to 60 percent of a policy-holder's expense in hospital will
be covered by the program, and local governments, based on local economic level and central government guidelines, will decide how much participants
pay to buy the insurance, Hu said.
However, Hu said that the residents' share in the premiums should be kept low at the beginning, and the participation should be based on their free will.
Hu also said local governments are encouraged to set different contribution rates for adults and children, and to link the rates with the income of policy holders.
Both the central and local governments will fund the subsidies, and the country has the capability to finance the project which aims to cover all residents by 2010, with its rising fiscal revenue on the back of a fast-growing economy, Hu said.
The project will mainly cover expenses of residents for hospitalization and major illnesses, said Hu.
Urban residents with only temporary jobs could also participate in the program, he said.
Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, where similar practices have already been adopted, are not among the pilot cities, according to Hu.
Answering a question about the medicare of migrant workers in cities, Hu said migrant workers from the countryside should also be covered by the insurance for urban employees, as the relatively low reimbursement rate under the rural cooperative insurance system would not be able to cover the high hospital expenses in cities.
Hu said employers of migrant workers are obliged to cover their employees' medical insurance.
According to Hu, China has about 200 million migrant workers, among whom 120 or 130 million work in cities.
Hu said the Chinese government invites public supervision from media and non-governmental organizations over the insurance fund, apart from administrative supervision by auditing officials and relevant supervisors, adding that "the money is used to save people's lives."
Source: Xinhua
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