China’s healthcare spending has risen rapidly in recent years, covering a far greater proportion of the country’s vast population than ever before. Even so, it is still falling short of the country’s needs and expectations.
Beijing’s decision to slash payments made to senior citizens by around 70 percent in February brought large crowds of protestors onto the streets in cities from Dalian to Wuhan. Other challenges, from the legacy of Covid to China’s aging demographics, are set to test the robustness of the country’s healthcare system in future.
This week, The Wire explores the remarkable growth of China’s Basic Medical Insurance system and how it stacks up by international standards.
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In the decades after the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, China offered its citizens free healthcare through what was known as the Rural Cooperative Medical System. Traveling medical workers, known as barefoot doctors, helped bring care to Ch
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