China plans to set up a comprehensive medical insurance program
over the next three years that will cover all urban citizens,
including children and the unemployed, said Premier Wen Jiabao at a meeting held on Monday and
Tuesday in Beijing.
China plans to set up a comprehensive medical insurance program
over the next three years that will cover all urban citizens,
including children and the unemployed.
During a meeting held on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao said that the country would introduce a national
health insurance program for all urban residents.
Currently only employed urban residents have been able to
participate in the national health insurance program. The new
program's policies, financed by the central government, will
provide insurance to a further 200 million urban residents.
The government has selected 79 cities. They will launch the
pilot program by the end of September.
Wen stated that different cities should develop reasonable,
practical policies for their pilot programs. These programs should
be in accordance with their own government revenue and living
standards.
They should also give residents freedom of choice and entice
them to participate in the scheme with promises of quality service,
he said.
The central government will give more support to cities in the
less developed central and western areas of China, Wen added.
"China's rapid economic growth and increasing government revenue
have provided a sound basis for adopting this program," Wen
said.
In the first half of this year, China's government revenue
topped 2.6 trillion yuan (US$342.56 billion), a year-on-year rise
of 30.6 percent.
The Chinese government started a health insurance program for
the urban employed in 1998 and a cooperative health care program
for rural residents in 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2007)