A pilot version of a nationwide basic medical insurance scheme that will one day cover all urban residents will be launched in 79 major cities by the end of September, a State Council meeting recently said.
Two or three cities per province, including most capital cities, will take part in the pilot version of the scheme, as well as medium-sized tourist attractions like Shangrao in Jiangxi Province and Wuxi in Jiangsu.
Beijing was not on the list because it has already taken tentative plans towards a similar scheme, a source with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) said.
While family and individual payments play a primary role in sustaining the program, it is said that those in need will receive a subsidy from the government, especially for serious diseases and in-patient services.
Likewise, pilot sites in central and western China are eligible for fixed amounts of financial support from the central and local governments, but those in the more economically developed eastern region "will have to mainly rely on themselves," the source said.
The program will extend to 80 percent of all cities by 2009, and a national trial program will be officially introduced in the following year, benefiting more than 200 million people outside the current workforce, according to the results of the executive meeting, which was hosted by Premier Wen Jiabao, and a series of previous gatherings of top officials.
Out of concern for how the project is carried out, the premier urged all pilot cities to not only voluntarily develop reasonable financing policies and security standards for local residents, but also to offer greater financial input and tighter supervision of medical insurance funds.
MLSS spokesperson Yin Chengji said the ministry's work for the remainder of this year would focus on "drafting relevant documents" in support of the initiative.
The urban basic medical insurance program is oriented towards primary and middle school students as well as unemployed and senior citizens, an official at the ministry said.
One of the last steps to be taken in the development of a basic universal healthcare system, the program is expected to complement the existing medical insurance framework for urban workers, which was implemented in 1998, and the new rural cooperative medicare system, which was established in 2002.