Wang Dongjin, vice minister of Labor and Social Security, noted
on July 6 that the medical insurance in China has covered a total
of 129.15 million people by the end of May 2005, increasing by
14.13 million as against the same period last year.
Speaking at the Annual Conference and Academic Lecture of
Medical Insurance Branch under China Social Insurance Association,
Wang said that along with the expansion of medical insurance, the
revenue of medical fund in the first five months reached 51.5
billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 billion yuan.
Wang further noted that the current medical insurance system
works smoothly. The revenue and expenditure of medical insurance
fund are balanced; people who take part in basic medical insurance
have received relevant guarantee; the medical expenses sharing
mechanism and medical service competitive mechanism have been
established and have begun to function fundamentally; the excessive
waste on medical resources and rocketing increase of medical
expenses under traditional system have been brought under
control.
(People's Daily Online July 8, 2005)