Insurance protects a family's 'economic backbone'

More than 290,000 rural families living in poverty across China have been included in a free health insurance program that protects the main breadwinner.

The program, called "Dingliangzhu", pays out for treatments and conditions not covered by the basic medical insurance offered by local governments, according to Liu Wenkui, vice-president of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

He said the goal is to protect a family's "economic backbone" and prevent them slipping further into poverty due to the burden of hospital bills.