Medical Financial Assistance in Rural China: Policy design and implementation
نویسندگان
چکیده
This paper reviews the development of the Medical Financial Assistance program (MFA) in rural China, including design and implementation processes, and assesses major areas for improvement. Jointly financed by the central and local governments, MFA provides cash assistance to poor households for the purchase of medical services. Because policy design and implementation are decentralized to local governments, the schemes vary markedly across localities in terms of financing, benefit levels and payment methods. Constrained by limited financial resources, MFA benefits are granted only when recipients qualify by meeting a number of conditions. These conditions are disadvantageous to the poor, leading in general to low utilization of benefits by poor households. With increased financial input from central and local governments, the MFA schemes have been improved compared to their early design. However, additional institutionalized funding sources are needed in order to improve the policy further.
منابع مشابه
Social health assistance schemes: the case of Medical Financial Assistance for the rural poor in four counties of China
BACKGROUND Economic transition which took place in China over the last three decades, has led to a rapid marketization of the health care sector. Today inequity in health and poverty resulting from major illness has become a serious problem in rural areas of China. Medical Financial Assistance (MFA) is a health assistance scheme that helps rural poor people cope with major illness and alleviate...
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