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Reforming medical system could save 100b yuan

By Xie Qi (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-04-25 10:59

Experts fromBeijingNormal University who are participating in the 7th reform planning of the Chinese medical system have offered suggestions on making health care more cost effective and at the same time give the best treatment to patients.

One expert said by reforming the medical system, the government can make sure every patient has basic medical cure. The committee recommends the government take responsibility for having a large enough budget for health care, and also give support to patients so that they can purchase medical service from health institutions. As a result patients do not need to pay hospitals directly; they can buy medical insurance from the government, and then, the government will pay the hospitals according to how many people take part in the medical insurance.

Currently hospitals are given fixed budgets from the government, and so doctors are forced to choose the most efficient way to treat them at the lowest cost without considering the needs of patients. , But in the bset interests of the patients, hospitals should find a balance between cost and efficiency.

The experts in the reform planning stress the government should be responsible for raising enough funds for healthcare. And this can be done through taxes and social insurance. People who can afford medical insurance should buy it, and those who can't will be supported by the government, an amount estimated at 20 billion yuan. This will reduce healthcare bills by 100 billion yuan, which is much lower than the budget for the Ministry of Health.

While most of the experts agree on this point, they have totally different ideas on tackling other problems. For example, some experts think it is difficult to set up a system of buying medical services. carry out the purchasing medical service. It will be a major obstacle of the 7th reform program.

The deadline in making the final decision is May 20. All the related agencies and expert teams, such as Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and the Research Institution of Ministry of Health, are very busy their recommendations. One official in the Ministry of Finance said they would look into the idea of purchasing medical services and a market model advocated by the 7th reform planning. Some experts said the final program should follow the rule of low cost, efficient and easy to implement.

At the same time, some media outlets think the 7th medical reform program still has some serious problems to deal with. A report from Xinkuai News thinks this program is unfair to people who pay for the insurance to support others who don't pay for it. Another fault is when budgets are stretched too thin, medical treatment may suffer.