About 2.3 million unemployed residents and children in Shanghai will be eligible for medical insurance from next year, making the city the first in the country to provide such coverage.

The unemployed, children and people from other provinces and regions marrying local residents will be added to the Residence Medical Insurance System from January 1, the city government said. It will mean that almost every person with local residency will have some form of medical insurance.

The present medical insurance system covers about 13 million residents, or almost 95 percent of the population, including the employed, farmers, students and the elderly over 70.

"However, there are still a number of residents not being covered by the medical insurance policy, resulting in financial difficulties in receiving medical services. This new policy is a meaningful addition to the current system," said Zhou Haiyang, director of the Shanghai Medical Insurance Bureau.

Under the new system, people over 18 can be reimbursed 50 to 70 percent of hospital fees and 50 percent of outpatient and emergency treatment costs depending on age. Fees for students under 18 and babies who need outpatient or emergency treatment, or who need to admitted to hospital, will be reimbursed 50 percent.

To encourage people to go to neighborhood health centers for treatment, the system will cover 60 percent of out-patient costs.

Since people joining the new system should use their own social insurance cards to get registered and pay medical costs in hospital, the local government has speeded up the card distribution process, and detailed information is available on local government Websites, including shanghai.gov.cn, ybj.sh.gov.cn, shanghaiit.gov.cn and 962222.net.

According to officials, the money to pay for the system comes from people's annual payments of between 60 yuan (US$8.13) to 480 yuan for different age groups and from the government, which will also give a subsidy to those with difficulty in paying.

The city government is to allocate about 450 million yuan annually to cover the medical costs, officials said.

Local residents can call a hotline (962218) or check the Website of Shanghai Medical Insurance Bureau (www.shyb.gov.cn) to find out about the new medical insurance system.

(Shanghai Daily December 21, 2007)