The Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers to the human right to health and well-being including medical care, but for the majority of people whom are not covered by health insurance this is better said than don...The Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers to the human right to health and well-being including medical care, but for the majority of people whom are not covered by health insurance this is better said than done. Ensuring the access of all citizens to the needed medical care requires the provision of health insurance coverage to a population pool and gradually expanding the pool to the whole nation. The ethical perspective of pooling resources across various groups of people with different levels of income and different health risks associated with age, genetics, and lifestyle, may raise the issue of individual autonomy versus social solidarity. Governmental, social, private, and community-based healthcare coverage have been used in different countries with varying details in the sources of funding, pooling of contributions, and the purchase of the covered healthcare services; these models have had varying levels of success depending on not only the availability of funds, but also on the political commitment of the state and the social solidarity and cultural attitude of the population towards universal healthcare. Therefore, universal healthcare requires not only a certain level of economic development, but also a strong sense of solidarity among the people as well as a political commitment in their government. I argue that the statement regarding the right to health, well-being, and medical care needs to be rethought, and instead universal access to essential healthcare should be regarded as a basic human right.展开更多
A comparison of how MR released to the insurance company Assist Card from a Chinese medical facility Hengyang HP vs from a US facility Stutter Health was roughly displayed. The former MR was for Mafia, a Colombian Ass...A comparison of how MR released to the insurance company Assist Card from a Chinese medical facility Hengyang HP vs from a US facility Stutter Health was roughly displayed. The former MR was for Mafia, a Colombian Assist Card cardholder, worked and got hospitalized in China, the later MR for Kong Lijun, a Chinese StarrChina cardholder, visited and got medical treatments in USA, they shared Assist Card international traveling and insurance assistance. In both cases, Assist Card got MR for the patient from the facilities that gave them treatments. As a third party, Assist Card went through different procedures to claim MR from Hengyang HP vs from Stutter Health. It managed to have got three MRs and three FTF and was pushing a fourth MR from Hengyang HP in about ten days, while it got only one MR from Stutter Health in ten days after twists and turns. The over cooperative or obedient tendency toward Assist Card＇s requests made Hengyang HP vulnerable and controllable, while the strict MR release procedures in Stutter Health made Assist Card passive and helpless.展开更多
Disease has been one of the top reasons accounting for impoverishment in rural China. The government subsidizes health care through the New Cooperative Medical System since 2003 （ NCMS ）. The paper studies the effec...Disease has been one of the top reasons accounting for impoverishment in rural China. The government subsidizes health care through the New Cooperative Medical System since 2003 （ NCMS ）. The paper studies the effectiveness of various reimbursement arrangements in reducing the financial burden caused by health care in rural China. Using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey（CHNS） , it finds that the severity of illness, the type of illness, medical cost and other costs of the treatment are significantly influencing the choice of a type of treatment. Based on the estimated demand function, the paper concludes that the reimbursement for inmpatient care only has little effect on reducing the financial burden and the incidence of catastrophic expenditure and that expending subsidies to outpatient care is a more effective policy.展开更多
＂The Chinese Dream＂ and its ideational precursors in official discourse touch upon issues of social policymaking. More specifically, official China has stated the goal of achieving a ＂moderate＂ or ＂appropriate＂ ...＂The Chinese Dream＂ and its ideational precursors in official discourse touch upon issues of social policymaking. More specifically, official China has stated the goal of achieving a ＂moderate＂ or ＂appropriate＂ universal welfare state in order to mitigate increasing inequality and the individualization of social risk. Consequently, the new millennium witnessed a wave of social reforms in China's Mainland, the most significant of which were arguably within the policy fields of health insurance, pensions and unemployment protection. This paper reviews reform efforts within these three policy fields and discusses progress and looming challenges with the concept of universalism as the yardstick. From the perspective of universalism, the social right dimensions of coverage （the share of the population included）, generosity （benefit levels or adequacy of welfare proved for those included） and financing （such as state, contributions or private） are quintessential. Coverage of social protection has increased significantly with new schemes in all three policy fields. The hukou divide in coverage of social insurance is not as pronounced as before, especially in health insurance. However, major challenges still persist. Declining benefit generosity or adequacy has been a tendency in both pensions and unemployment protection. The pension system also faces problems of financial fragmentation and unsustainability. The health insurance system is still inadequate in terms of protection against health risks, particularly serious or chronic illnesses. These issues are more pronounced in schemes catering to rural residents or urban residents outside the labor market. This reflects that schemes for urban workers are still much more generous. In this regard, recent tentative efforts to integrate the divided welfare system should be noted.展开更多
文摘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers to the human right to health and well-being including medical care, but for the majority of people whom are not covered by health insurance this is better said than done. Ensuring the access of all citizens to the needed medical care requires the provision of health insurance coverage to a population pool and gradually expanding the pool to the whole nation. The ethical perspective of pooling resources across various groups of people with different levels of income and different health risks associated with age, genetics, and lifestyle, may raise the issue of individual autonomy versus social solidarity. Governmental, social, private, and community-based healthcare coverage have been used in different countries with varying details in the sources of funding, pooling of contributions, and the purchase of the covered healthcare services; these models have had varying levels of success depending on not only the availability of funds, but also on the political commitment of the state and the social solidarity and cultural attitude of the population towards universal healthcare. Therefore, universal healthcare requires not only a certain level of economic development, but also a strong sense of solidarity among the people as well as a political commitment in their government. I argue that the statement regarding the right to health, well-being, and medical care needs to be rethought, and instead universal access to essential healthcare should be regarded as a basic human right.
文摘A comparison of how MR released to the insurance company Assist Card from a Chinese medical facility Hengyang HP vs from a US facility Stutter Health was roughly displayed. The former MR was for Mafia, a Colombian Assist Card cardholder, worked and got hospitalized in China, the later MR for Kong Lijun, a Chinese StarrChina cardholder, visited and got medical treatments in USA, they shared Assist Card international traveling and insurance assistance. In both cases, Assist Card got MR for the patient from the facilities that gave them treatments. As a third party, Assist Card went through different procedures to claim MR from Hengyang HP vs from Stutter Health. It managed to have got three MRs and three FTF and was pushing a fourth MR from Hengyang HP in about ten days, while it got only one MR from Stutter Health in ten days after twists and turns. The over cooperative or obedient tendency toward Assist Card＇s requests made Hengyang HP vulnerable and controllable, while the strict MR release procedures in Stutter Health made Assist Card passive and helpless.
基金The author is grateful for financial support from the National Science Foundation of China （70573024）.
文摘Disease has been one of the top reasons accounting for impoverishment in rural China. The government subsidizes health care through the New Cooperative Medical System since 2003 （ NCMS ）. The paper studies the effectiveness of various reimbursement arrangements in reducing the financial burden caused by health care in rural China. Using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey（CHNS） , it finds that the severity of illness, the type of illness, medical cost and other costs of the treatment are significantly influencing the choice of a type of treatment. Based on the estimated demand function, the paper concludes that the reimbursement for inmpatient care only has little effect on reducing the financial burden and the incidence of catastrophic expenditure and that expending subsidies to outpatient care is a more effective policy.
文摘＂The Chinese Dream＂ and its ideational precursors in official discourse touch upon issues of social policymaking. More specifically, official China has stated the goal of achieving a ＂moderate＂ or ＂appropriate＂ universal welfare state in order to mitigate increasing inequality and the individualization of social risk. Consequently, the new millennium witnessed a wave of social reforms in China's Mainland, the most significant of which were arguably within the policy fields of health insurance, pensions and unemployment protection. This paper reviews reform efforts within these three policy fields and discusses progress and looming challenges with the concept of universalism as the yardstick. From the perspective of universalism, the social right dimensions of coverage （the share of the population included）, generosity （benefit levels or adequacy of welfare proved for those included） and financing （such as state, contributions or private） are quintessential. Coverage of social protection has increased significantly with new schemes in all three policy fields. The hukou divide in coverage of social insurance is not as pronounced as before, especially in health insurance. However, major challenges still persist. Declining benefit generosity or adequacy has been a tendency in both pensions and unemployment protection. The pension system also faces problems of financial fragmentation and unsustainability. The health insurance system is still inadequate in terms of protection against health risks, particularly serious or chronic illnesses. These issues are more pronounced in schemes catering to rural residents or urban residents outside the labor market. This reflects that schemes for urban workers are still much more generous. In this regard, recent tentative efforts to integrate the divided welfare system should be noted.
