World Bank says China healthcare reform: setting up family-based health care system

On the morning of December 16, the World Bank said in a series of reports on China's health reform policy, released today, that a step-by-step approach should be taken to provide all individuals and families with a unified basic health care system and a family-based medical insurance scheme.　　The World Bank recently released a series of reports on China's health reform policy recommendations, with the Chinese government, each focusing on a key area of success in healthcare reform, and reporting on how to refine and refine health reform in the next 5-10 years. According to the report, China's current health insurance system is a mix of different systems for employment and jobless people, as well as for urban and rural populations. Employing units and employees, individual contributions and government subsidies are the main sources of funding for these different health care systems, and the level of protection and benefit varies from one level to another. The report suggests that social co-ordination can be set up to replace medical savings accounts and to increase the coverage and reimbursement ratio of low-income and jobless urban populations. Emphasizing the need to achieve greater equity among the existing different funds, with particular attention to low-income groups and migrant workers, a gradual approach to providing universal access to basic health care benefits for all individuals and families, and the establishment of a family-based medical insurance system.　　In addition, there is a need to co-ordinate the country's large number of independently operated health insurance funds, and to establish a provincial (perhaps later state-level) Health insurance fund co-ordination system. The proportion of Chinese medicines to total expenditure is too high, which has been the focus of attention of all circles. The main problem, the report argues, is the system of supply-side payments, under which hospitals and doctors rely on drug sales for additional income. To reform the system would require alternative sources of funding for drug sales, such as direct subsidies, higher user fees, or increased insurance payments for medical services. In addition to decoupling drug sales from medical staff income, measures should be taken to impose stringent quality standards on generic drugs and to change the perception of doctors and patients that "generics are not as good as branded drugs" and to establish incentives to promote the use of generic drugs. (Snow ting from Beijing)