Health care reform
China strives for universal health careSince 2009, China has been striving for universal healthcare for its citizens. It finally achieved this after a $124 billion investment between 2009 and 2011. However, the actual benefits citizens are achieving from this program are quite low. Many citizens are seeking private insurance instead because, though it is more expensive, the government's coverage still isn't making the cut.
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" the system still suffers from problems of quality and accessibility."
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-Chinafile (2013)
What exactly is the problem?
There are several issues with the way the healthcare system has been set up. For one, though the government has given its citizens "coverage" for healthcare, the hospitals are suffering. Diagnostics and treatments must be kept at a minimum cost due to the reform. The government only invests enough in its public hospitals to cover 7% of their expenses. The result is the hospitals relying on pharmecutical sales in order to keep their hospitals running. The laws in China state that pharmecuticals may not be sold above a 15% mark up of their standard value. These values can be too low to make a reasonable profit for the hospital, so the standard prices have been raised dramatically in an effort to make a profit. How do they increase the standard price in the first place? Bribery.
Bribery takes place at every level in the hopsital to assure this, from executives down to nurses and, most importantly, the bookkeeper. Doctors in China are especially prone to accepting the bribes to perscribe the marked up medicine because they are severely underpaid. Doctors in China are required to have five years of undergraduate study plus one year of an internship before they are officially a doctor. This is compared to an average of four years of undergrad study for other feilds. It is more expensive and time consuming to become a doctor in China and yet, 28% of doctors who begin working make less than or equal to 3,000RMB per year (about U.S. $490). Over half the doctors in China believe the system is corrupted, yet due to the structure of the system, the result is bribery and an inadequate system of healthcare.
Bribery takes place at every level in the hopsital to assure this, from executives down to nurses and, most importantly, the bookkeeper. Doctors in China are especially prone to accepting the bribes to perscribe the marked up medicine because they are severely underpaid. Doctors in China are required to have five years of undergraduate study plus one year of an internship before they are officially a doctor. This is compared to an average of four years of undergrad study for other feilds. It is more expensive and time consuming to become a doctor in China and yet, 28% of doctors who begin working make less than or equal to 3,000RMB per year (about U.S. $490). Over half the doctors in China believe the system is corrupted, yet due to the structure of the system, the result is bribery and an inadequate system of healthcare.