Fact Sheet - WHO-Sponsored Study Tour for the People’s Republic of China: Cooperative Medical Systems in Rural Health
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Rural cooperative medical scheme (RCMS) was developing significantly in the 1960s and 1970s covering around 90% of Chinese villages. RCMS was jointly funded by local collective economies (i.e. village welfare fund under village collectives and township government) and individual households. When China’s agricultural sector was privatized and collective economy was dismantled, the RCMS collapsed in the most provinces of China during the period in the1980s. It was also due to the Cultural Revolution in China and the lack of political interest to continue to support the RCMS. In 2002, the Chinese government decided to establish a nationwide new Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in order to lessen the wide disparity in health service utilization between urban and rural areas and prevent the illness-caused poverty for rural farmers. The study tour “Policy making in Healthcare Security Schemes” aims at fostering an exchange of experience and expertise with the Canadian policymakers and experts on scheme management, rationing to control expenditure and other relevant policies for healthcare management in Canada. During the study tour, health specialists from selected Chinese government agencies acquired insights into the following: Overview of the Canadian healthcare insurance management system Laws and regulations of Canada that formulate the organization and management of the healthcare system in Canada:
Healthcare financing measures and policies in Canada Modes and means of Federal and provincial governments, and other institutions with respect to:
The current Canadian strategies and responses to any encountering weaknesses and constraints Practical approaches and tools to manage the healthcare system and control the healthcare expenditure effectively, efficiently and equally in Canada. |