Health plans for residents of areas outside of urban and suburban zones will receive larger government subsidies.
On Monday, China made international insurance news with its latest announcement from the health minister of the country, Chen Zhu, which stated that the government of the nation would be increasing the subsidies that it provides to the medical coverage available to rural residents in 2013.
The annual subsidy will be increased by an average of 40 yuan per person.
The government subsidy that will now be available to rural residents in this international insurance program from China to those outside of the cities, which is called the “new rural cooperative medical program”. The increase brings the amount of the subsidy from having been 240 yuan, up to 280 yuan. This is the approximate equivalent to US $44.94.
This international insurance information was included in Chen’s announcement.
The announcement from Chen Zhu about this international insurance improvement was made at the national health work conference which had been held in Beijing. It was explained that under this new health coverage program, residents of rural areas will need to pay an annual premium of 60 yuan per person, out of their own pockets. This means that the total amount for the coverage for each person will be 340 yuan, which is an increase over 290 yuan, where it had been last year.
The new health insurance program for rural residents was originally launched into the international insurance market of China in 2003 as a plan to help that the tremendous number of people throughout the country who do not live near cities would be able to gain access to medical treatments that they would be able to afford. This would, in turn, decrease the amount of poverty that was caused by disease.
The number of people who have coverage from this international insurance program within China has spiked from having initially been 80 million, to its current state of 900 million. The average total amount for the coverage has also increased substantially, from having been 30 yuan, to its current total amount at 290 yuan.
