Beijing to provide medicare insurance for children and students

Beijing will improve its social security network over the next five years to provide basic medical insurance to students and pre-school children by 2010, said a news briefing Monday.

Most of the more than three million Beijing urban residents with no medicare are primary and secondary school students and pre-school children, said Zhang Dafa, medicare department chief of Beijing's Labor and Social Security Bureau.

"We're now researching the issue. There should be no problem extending cover to those people over the next five years according to our social security plan", said Zhang.

Beijing's urban social medicare insurance network now covers over eight million people, including 6.56 million urban residents and 1.5 million urban employees and college students who enjoy free medical care, said Zhang.

An urban resident normally pays 2 percent of his monthly income for medicare insurance. Below an annual threshold of 2000 yuan (250 U.S. dollars), health expenses are not reimbursed. Beyond that amount, contributors are reimbursed 50 percent of their expenses.

Zhang didn't provide details of the medicare system for students and children.

Beijing's rural residents also benefit from the cooperative medical system, which has enrolled 2.49 million farmers, about 81 percent of the local rural population, said the local health bureau.

According to the new policy launched in 2003, a farmer puts 10 yuan (1.25 U.S. dollars) a year into his personal medicare account and the government adds another 40 yuan (5 U.S. dollars). The government will pay a maximum of 65 percent of his medical charges per year.

The new rural cooperative medical system will be extended to 80 percent of counties by the end of 2008 and all counties by 2010, according to the health ministry. .

Source: Xinhua