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Shaanxi cuts health care bills for poor
By Ma Lie (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-30 06:00
XI'AN: The poverty-stricken and laid-off in Shaanxi Province will enjoy
cheaper medical treatment from tomorrow.
"A 'hospital wards for the poor' policy is being implemented on Thursday
(December 1) in seven hospitals directly under the control of our bureau," said
Li Hongguang, director of Shaanxi Provincial Health Bureau at a press conference
on Monday in Xi'an.
According to the new policy, a total of 264 hospital beds will be provided
for people with financial difficulties, he added.
Laid-off workers and disadvantaged migrants will be among those to receive
cheaper medical treatment with a 20 per cent discount on hospital expenses, the
director explained.
However, the director stressed, the quality of medical services is
guaranteed.
To keep costs down, doctors are also being directed to only use necessary
medicines, the provincial health director said.
In Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, one of the seven pilot hospitals,
costs for operating on heart disease patients will be halved for those with
financial difficulties, and doctors who use large quantities of expensive
medicines will be warned, Gao Jianmin, deputy director of the hospital, told
China Daily.
The provincial health director said the measure is the first step in solving
the problem of people not being able to afford to visit a doctor. If successful,
the trial in the seven hospitals will be introduced to all hospitals in the
province.
Local people have welcomed the measure and hope it can help lighten the
financial burden.
"I am very glad to hear the news, but worry if the measure can be carried out
properly," Liu Xiansheng, a local resident said.
Shaanxi, an inland northwestern province, has some 190,000 laid-off workers
and 1.2 million rural dwellers living in poverty.
The province has set its own standards for "people with financial
difficulties" those who earn less than 500 yuan (US$62) per month in urban areas
and those who have a net annual income of no more than 700 yuan (US$86) in rural
regions.
(China Daily 11/30/2005 page3)
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