Zhang Larong, a worker in the Jiujiang Household Appliances Factory
in central China's
Jiangxi Province, cannot afford the nearly 2,000 yuan for his
hospitalization because the business he works for is in trouble.
Fortunately Zhang needed to pay only 200 yuan as the remaining
1,700 yuan was covered by the Jiujiang city workers' medicare
fund.
The factory where Zhang works is a state-owned enterprise in
economic difficulties, and factory management finds it hard to
provide medicare fees for its workers. Since Jiujiang has begun
basic medicare system reforms for urban workers, Zhang and many
other workers have found it easier to get help for their hospital
fees.
In
fact, not only Jiujiang, but also many other large and medium-sized
Chinese cities are trying the socialized medicare system.
Early in 1998, the newly-elected Chinese Premier Zhu
Rongji, announced that the government would help push forward
five reform items including the establishment of an urban medicare
system for workers.
As
early as 1994, Jiujiang and another city were listed as China's
first two trial cities to implement the socialized medicare system
reforms.
China's former medicare system included workers' insurance and the
medicare system for state-owned enterprises, and all the workers'
medical fees were covered by the units or businesses which employed
them.
Wu
Jinping, an official with Jiujiang government and in charge of the
medicare reforms says that the former medicare system put great
burdens on the national finances as well as on the state-owned
enterprises.
"The former medicare system guaranteed the medical welfare of
employees over a very long period of time, but medical fees have
increased rapidly," noted Wu, adding that in Jiujiang City, the
annual growth rate of medical fees increased more rapidly than the
fiscal revenue of the city over the same period.
The newly implemented medicare system stresses that employees of
state-owned enterprises, private businesses, joint-ventures and
collective enterprises can all enjoy the same basic medicare.
The new system requires cities at or above county level to
establish medicare funds for their workers, and this has removed
the burden from enterprises unable to afford medicare fees.
To
date the new socialized medicare system is operating in 303 Chinese
cities at or above county-level, covering 48.74 million people.
The Chinese government is determined to increase this to 80 million
people by the end of this year.
Since April 1, 2001, China's public-funded medical care system for
urban employees, has gradually been eased out in Beijing. After 50
years of service, it is giving way to a new medical insurance
scheme.
Millions of Beijing residents who enjoyed almost free medical
treatment, will now have to cover part of their medical expenses
themselves.
This is the reason people were rushing to see physicians in major
hospitals in Beijing before April, and why the number of patients
suddenly shrank when April arrived.
Similar situations also occurred in many other big cities, such as
Kunming and Changchun, which have also been preparing to initiate
the medical reform. In waves of panic people impulsively bought
medicine and got general check-ups, and surgery waiting lists
soared as April approached.
For urban employees, free medical care is what they want. But in
China, having such a huge population base and skyrocketing medical
expenses, the old public-funded health care system, which was
formed half a century ago, has become utopian in recent years.
( November 22, 2001)