Annual income of resident basic medical insurance in China 2014-2023

In 2023, the urban and rural resident basic medical insurance program in China received an income of more than one trillion yuan, representing an increase of 4.4 percent from the previous year. 

Reform of the public health insurance system

In the past few years, the Chinese healthcare system and public health insurance have undergone significant reforms, with the country’s basic medical insurance programs now covering more than 1.33 billion people. To simplify the system and safeguard equal healthcare and benefits to everyone living in both urban and rural regions, the rural cooperative medical scheme and the urban resident basic medical insurance were both integrated into a uniform urban and rural resident basic medical insurance system, which covers all non-working residents across China.

Regional inequalities

However, inequalities remain rampant among patients from different employment statuses or living in different regions. On one hand, employee basic medical insurance normally offers more comprehensive coverage and higher reimbursement rates than the resident basic medical insurance. On the other hand, with each province having its own policy, the resident basic medical insurance program in poorer regions can also be significantly inferior to its counterpart in a more affluent region. Access to quality healthcare services remains challenging in rural areas, as high-level hospitals and specialists are generally concentrated in provincial capitals and economic centers.