Public health insurance to go ahead in China

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=267951

China plans to set up a comprehensive medical insurance program over the next three years that will cover all urban citizens, including children and the unemployed.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has announced the national health insurance program for all urban residentswhich is to be financed by the central government.

Under the scheme, it is believed another 200 million urban residents will be insured.
more...
wow China can do it why can't we?

[Richard Steele]

1. We could do it, but that would be (gasp!) "Communism".

It's a great idea, but those godless commies
thought of it first, so we can't do it without
violating this great nation's perfect purity.

Bummer.

[bemildred]

2. Well, what can you expect from godless communists? nt

[Gloria]

3. We are being shamed by a lot of countries these days....

[supernova]

4. Those filthy Communists!!

How dare they take care of their people!

:sarcasm:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Actually, this is a return to their older social safety net

Under the Maoist system, everyone was assigned to a "danwei," or "work unit," which could be a factory, a school, a hospital, a farm, a group of smaller businesses, or wherever else people can work, and the work unit provided the "iron rice bowl." That was, you would be taken care of from cradle to grave as long as you followed all the rules. The work unit provided housing, medical care, a salary for working adults, and a pension for the elderly, but it also placed tight controls over one's life. For example, you had to get permission from your work unit to marry or have a child or travel.

When the work unit system broke down, so, unfortunately, did the social safety net. People were suddenly on their own for medical care, housing, employment, and education. Not all could cope, especially in remote rural areas.

It looks as if the Chinese are rebuilding their social safety net now.