Chinese Vice Premier urges health care reform

[Doctor Cynic]

Source: Xinhua

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called for setting up a system to ensure accessibility to essential medicines and a pilot reform of state-run hospitals to bring real benefits to the people.

Li, also head of the State Council's advisory group of health care reform, said at a meeting that an essential medicine system will help safeguard people's safety in using drugs and cut their medication costs, according to a statement issued Thursday by the meeting.

A list of drugs, one of the most important components of the new essential medicine system the government is putting into place, had been determined, according to the advisory group earlier this month. The drugs listed would be provided to hospitals at controlled low prices.

By the end of this year, about 30 percent of state-owned community health institutes and county-level hospitals are asked to only use drugs on the list and should make no profit in selling the drugs.

Read more: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/13/content_11878027.htm

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We'll see if there are any rich tycoons who send thugs to disrupt meetings and yell "Death to Li!" while comparing the health officials to Hitler...

[drm604]

1. Now they'll start saying that Obama is trying to make us like China. n/t

[Beavker]

2. They could do it once.

And only once. Because they would then cease to exist shortly after.

[Javaman]

3. wait for the new right wing screech...

"see!!! see!!! china is reforming health care!!! it's a commie plot!!!"

I'm telling you, it's going to be the next talking point, mark my words.

[BOG PERSON]

5. Nah...

Most Americans conservatives don't care too much about Asian countries' internal affairs.

[Javaman]

6. you are missing the point. they call Obama a commie

they don't want to reform health care.

it doesn't take a moron long to connect A to B for a massively stupid strawman argument.

[Soylent Brice]

4. i for one welcome our universally covered national health care having chinese overlords.

[Lagomorph]

7. I thought communist counties

already had universal health care?

I mean, they've been saying that since the 1950's.

[Mrdie]

8. Not quite

First, universal health care is different from directly-run state health care. Second, universal health care (or state-run health care, for that matter) doesn't translate into it actually being good health care automatically. For example, the DPRK (North Korea) has state-run health care where it's free for everyone. In reality of course, their health care system is of poor quality and faces obvious problems in the northern, rural parts of the country where there is the constant risk of starvation, etc. Rural China is a fair bit economically worse off than the urban areas, and this includes health care issues. In this case it's reform in the actual sense of the word: reform the existing system so that rural areas are covered better.

[Soylent Brice]

9. counties?

:think:

ah, you're referring to Washington County, D.C.

only county in the country that has citizens with "communist" health care (you know, our senators and congresscritters.)

(yes, i know you meant countries.)