More Affordable Healthcare One of China’s ways to improve healthcare affordability and acce

More Affordable Healthcare

One of China’s ways to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility is through basic medical insurance coverage for all. With the healthcare reform, China aims to have 90 percent of the population covered by medical insurance by the end of this year. By 2020, China aims to have its entire population covered by medical insurance. Whether the percentages can be achieved remains unclear for now. In 2009, approximately 60 percent, or 350 million out of 580 million people in the urban areas were covered by the basic medical insurance.

The full implementation of basic medical insurance will boost demand for drugs and medical devices in China. There will be an increasing number of patients who can afford medical care, as well as patients who are less price-sensitive to treatment costs. Patients also are able to receive needed therapy for longer periods of time, without the constraint of unaffordable medical costs.

Nevertheless, as the government spends more, it also will control costs through other means. These include price cuts and reimbursement cuts, mainly through expensive pharmaceutical products.