Millions of people in China are dropping out of state health insurance, according to a report by Voice of America (VOA).
VOA is a US state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster.
As per statistics released by China’s National Healthcare Security Administration, in 2022, China had 1.34 billion people enrolled in state-subsidized basic health insurance but that was 17.05 million fewer than in 2021.
A resident of China’s eastern city of Nanjing, Shu Min thinks the nation’s public hospitals are running out of money and are doing everything they can to increase the co-pays charged directly to patients.
Shu Min told VOA Mandarin in an interview: “A doctor told me, the more problems a patient has, the better. So the hospital could benefit more by taking whatever highest insurance amount that the patient can claim. This is so ridiculous!” Shu Min’s father has been diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease and suffered a fracture in a fall a few years ago, requiring long-term hospitalization for rehabilitation.
Shu Min said some hospitals recommended that her father be admitted as a patient seeking treatment for Alzheimer’s instead of rehabilitation because the health insurance program pays USD 3,000 (22,000 yuan) for Alzheimer’s patients, compared with USD 1,100 (8,000 yuan) for rehabilitation, as per VOA.
She said the public hospitals have also raised co-pay amounts in recent years. One of the medications her father uses most is no longer covered by health insurance, and the family had to switch medications, even though a doctor said that the original medication was more effective.
