Nearly 3 million migrant workers in Beijing will have access to
the same medical and work-related injury insurance scheme as city
residents.
Two new regulations on medical and occupational injury issued
late last month by Beijing put the onus on employers to pay the
premiums for migrant workers' insurance. The regulations kick in
September 1.
Since the 1950s, when the urban household registration system
was adopted, Chinese farmers have been all but confined to their
land and granted little access to the social welfare system
designed for urban dwellers.
Wang Dexiu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of
Labor and Social Security, said the medical insurance will cover
hefty hospitalization bills and three kinds of outpatient services
-- radiation and chemotherapy, kidney dialysis and anti-rejection
drugs for kidney transplants.
Other outpatient services are not covered, Wang said.
The insurance is valid only during periods of employment in
Beijing.
Government surveys show that 80 percent of migrant workers in
Beijing usually work in the city for about three years.
Migrant workers employed by enterprises registered in Beijing
will also be covered by the occupational insurance scheme. However,
workers with no labor contracts, such as babysitters and laborers
paid by the hour, are not eligible.
(China Daily August 23, 2004)