In setting up the new health care reform guideline, the Chinese government did the right thing by putting public interests before profit-making, and by striving for equality between rural and urban areas.
Millions of Chinese people who have suffered in various ways from a twisted and corrupt health care system would probably feel relieved upon reading the news: at least on the paper, the government clearly stated that it is on our side. China’s vast group of farmers would probably hail the new reform plan as well, since it set the tone for setting up a health care system that will provide equal care to both urban and rural residents, limit drug prices and build more health care facilities in rural area, according to a story in the South China Morning Post.
But a lot of people would not jump up and down on the new plan just yet. As Chinese people have learned over so many years and so many things, a good plan does not guarantee a good result.
Yes, the government is now saying that public hospitals should no longer pursue profits as their priority and treat patients based on their ability to pay. But how to maintain or improve the quality of health care?
The current plan is issued by the central government and serves as a guideline, while the local governments get to set up specific rules and regulations for hospitals to follow. Will local governments faithfully adhere to the line set by the government? Many people would doubt that because in many places, the local authorities no longer treat directions from the state government seriously.
Even if good rules and regulations will be in place, no one can be sure that they will be well followed. Can the good rules get over bad officials who have their hands in all fields that could bring them extra cash and a bureaucratic system that is so corrupt? Will China’s medical education system produce enough practitioners with not only deft hands but also good hearts, who can therefore sustain a health care system that truly serves the public?
On the surface, it sounds like a good thing that the government finally decided to intervene and do its part in fixing a corrupt health care system. At the same time, however, the reform nevertheless falls into the old circle of relaxing and tightening control, whereby the government relaxes rules to encourage reform in a certain area, only to rush to get the control back after market-oriented behaviors went awry and hurt the public.
China’s health care system is now a big mess but can’t afford of being unfixed. In a society that is already threatened by all kinds of social conflicts, a sick health care system could only aggravate public grievance. Fixing it is a big challenge and it waits to be seen whether the Chinese government can meet the challenge.
4 comments:
Hello Friends,
It is very sad that people in China, especially who live in countryside, wipe out all savings and in heavy debt when one of their family members is ill. My mother is currently in hospital and have to have some procedure done and the city hospital charged her 100k Yuan for the procedure and 1000 Yuan each day for hospitalization because of blood clogging problem. Although she buys insurance from a government insurance program, only 10% of the cost may be reimbursed. She lives in countryside and has no real income, and no savings. In normal time, we (me and my siblings) provide financial support for my parent living expenses. For this procedure, I provided 10k us dollar, which is most of my savings in the U.S since I have just bought a home last year. My five other siblings provided the rest of the money. Since they all live in countryside, which is all earnings for a year.
Here is how the current government insurance works:
1. No reimbursement if you do not go to the hospital. For example, doctor will go to my mother's home to take care of her and we pay cash. There is nothing being reimbursed.
2. If you go to the town hospital, 60 percent of the cost will be reimbursed. In most cases, the town hospital is not sure if their diagnose is correct. They suggest you need to go to the county hospital for further diagnose.
3. Then you go to the county hospital, they will charge you a lot of money (in our case, 10k Yuan for two weeks) and the insurance will cover about 30% of the cost. Then, you were told that they can do much and you need to go to the city hospital.
4. Then, you were sent to city hospital and only 10% of cost will be reimbursed. Currently, tens of thousands of Yuan are charged for a lot of procedures.
Although I am very sad about the current situation, I am hopeful that there will be changes made for the betterment of the people.
Sincerely,
Zhang
government have always take care for people's health. they have to provide good facility and plan for people's health.
about china its always a matter of greater concern since too many mouths to feed, too many desires to be met, lets hope new policies will fit well to serve people better,health industry is a field of unending dispute and no nation could reach a satisfactory phase in a day, managing the health of worlds largest population is ceratinly a mammoth task, what any country should follow is not to bring a drastic change but introducing tiny terms and giving them time to suit properly, thus allowing people to determine what way they can get the best spending least. to ensure equal service for each citizen is the moto of an ideal healtcare system, but it is never so plausible especially for countries undergoing rapid transition in almost all sectors. besides that, formulating policies to serve better at cheaper might induce the many to be doctormaniac, serving a huge mass every hour doesn't attest a strong heathcare system, it must rather at the same time work to concern people about how to pursue a healthy life by growing healthy habits, nutritionists and health educators must be given a chance too,
about china its always a matter of greater concern since too many mouths to feed, too many desires to be met, lets hope new policies will fit well to serve people better,health industry is a field of unending dispute and no nation could reach a satisfactory point in a day, managing the health of worlds largest population is ceratinly a mammoth task, what any country should follow is not to bring a drastic change but introducing tiny terms and giving them time to suit properly, thus allowing people to determine what way they can get the best spending least. to ensure equal service for each citizen is the moto of an ideal healtcare system, but it is never so plausible especially for countries undergoing rapid transition in almost all sectors. besides that, formulating policies to serve better at cheaper might induce the many go doctormaniac, serving a huge mass every hour doesn't attest a successful healthcare system, it must rather at the same time work to concern people about how to pursue a healthy life by growing healthy habits, nutritionists and health educators must be given a chance too,
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