Millions Of Chinese People Drop Out Of State Health Insurance

Taipei -

Xu Ming, a resident of the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, believes that the country's public hospitals are losing money and is doing everything he can to increase co-payments directly from patients.

“The doctor told me that the more problems the patient has, the better. This way, the hospital will benefit more by issuing the maximum amount of insurance coverage that the patient can ask for. “This is very interesting!”

Xu Ming's father was diagnosed with mild Alzheimer's disease and suffered a fracture during a fall several years ago, requiring a long hospital stay for rehabilitation.

In a phone interview, Xu Ming said some hospitals recommended his father be admitted as an inpatient for Alzheimer's instead of rehabilitation because health insurance covers $3,000 (22,000 yuan) for Alzheimer's. The patient pays US$1,100 (8,000 yuan) instead. ) for rehabilitation. .

Public hospitals have also increased copayment rates in recent years, he said. One of the medications his father took often wasn't covered by health insurance, and the family had to switch medications even though the doctor said the original medication was more effective.

Health insurance covers fewer services. For example, two years ago, restoration work was done twice a day, but now only once a day. Physical therapy was reduced to twice a day.

“For the past three years, I have been very concerned because every January doctors tell me there is a new policy. Since last year, policy changes have become more frequent. This means that neither patients nor hospitals have time to adapt.” “I live in fear and doubt,” Xu Ming said.

insurance

In contrast to Xu Min, who still has health insurance, millions of Chinese citizens have opted out of the government system.

In 2022, 1.34 billion people in China will be covered by government-subsidized basic health insurance, but this is 17.05 million fewer than in 2021, according to National Health Administration statistics.

In a paper on health insurance, Wang Chaoqun, an associate professor at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, describes several reasons why people drop out of the insurance program. These include ever-increasing insurance premiums, declining benefits, improving health among the middle-aged population, and the inability of insurance plans to treat some serious diseases.

A topic posted on the widely used but censored Chinese social network Weibo titled “20 million people give up health insurance” has sparked intense controversy and discussion.

"More and more people are choosing not to buy health insurance," user QQQ said. A user named "Jackekaby" wrote, "Exactly. Many friends follow this path, and it's very expensive."

According to Dong Siqi, director of international affairs at Taiwan-based policy research firm Think Tank, the cost of health insurance in China is 38 times higher than it was 20 years ago, and the average income of migrant workers has increased by just 24%. . . Increased insurance premiums will put pressure on some people, especially those who live in rural areas with a large number of family members.

“The amount of health insurance paid by the government is still much higher than that paid by individuals. So the fact that they are leaving the system shows a lack of confidence in the social security system,” Dong said in a phone interview with Voice of America.

Dong said the COVID-19 outbreak has affected many companies that can no longer afford health insurance for their employees. “Due to the financial crisis, local governments are less able to provide health care. So people's cash payments are high and they prefer to save money for other expenses.

Yang Lixiong, a professor at the College of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China, said the cost of health insurance poses a burden on the average rural family.

"Farmers are struggling to increase their income, but health insurance premiums are rising rapidly. This is the biggest problem," Yang told the China Economic Weekly in a report published on December 4.

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