Private Hospitals Join in Chinese Healthcare Reforms

China has taken another step towards the goal of a more "public" healthcare system.
The State Council has decided to pilot a series of measures, including freeing public hospitals from over-relying on prescription profits and emphasizing primary care, all in an effort to boost stalled medicare reforms.

And this time the usually marginalized private hospitals have been included in the scheme.

Wu Jia brings us more.

Reporter:

Private hospitals always struggle in China.

Han Xiaohong, a consultant from the Beijing municipal advisory body, says private hospitals are not financially strong enough to buy top equipment, so they can only compete with their counterparts in public hospitals in basic health services, such as physical examinations and midwifery.

Nevertheless, they seem to perform rather well in those limited fields.

Han Xiaohong is also the CEO of Ci Ming Corporation, which specializes in offering physical examinations. She says her company runs 45 hospitals in 11 cities and they admit some 1.2 million patients every year.

The healthcare reform guidelines released by the State Council earlier this week encourage the private sectors to set up more hospitals.

Han Xiaohong says that she believes this move is on the right track.

"We can see the government is determined to do it. I think it is right. In my opinion, the purpose of the reform is to provide a more affordable public healthcare supplemented by private sectors for more personalized and professional services."

According to China's Health Ministry, the new guidelines are aimed at establishing an effective but more importantly, an affordable healthcare system.

This is part of a greater medicare reform program, which was announced by the government last year. Under the program, patients will only have to pay 20 percent of their healthcare bill before 2020.

Han Xiaohong says that this is not the first time that private hospitals are covered by the reform scheme.

"There has been no more business tax for private hospitals since late last year. It was absolutely unprecedented good news for private hospitals."

China now embraces a hybrid healthcare system combining employer-based insurance and social service supplements.

Wu Jia, CRI news.