After six years' medical reform, about 7.8 billion person-times of medical service has been achieved by 2014, and the number of persons covered by basic medical insurance for urban employees, basic medical insurance for urban residents, and new rural cooperative medical insurance exceeded 1.3 billion, of which the coverage ratio reached as high as over 95%, establishing the largest basic medica...

WHY HEALTHCARE REFORM IS REAL Heal thcare reform is being driven by four economic and social forces, the most potent of which is the rapidly rising cost of healthcare. At current rates of growth, it is predicted that in six years the annual healthcare costs for a family of four will be $30,000—more than the family will spend on food, housing, transportat ion, and clothing combined. These costs ...

BACKGROUND High drug costs due to supplier-induced demand (SID) obstruct healthcare accessibility in China. Drug prescriptions can generate markup-related profits, and the low prices of other medical services can lead to labor-force underestimations; therefore, physicians are keen to prescribe drugs rather than services. Thus, in China, a public hospital reform has been instituted to cancel mar...