Health Care in China

Health care in the US is far from perfect, but so is China's health care. China has a system where they pay around 60+ percent on health care expenses for patients. The country tries to give every social class the same type of care. The problems for China could be that there are so many people living in one country, or that rich patients can get better care because doctors like them. This 2009 CBS News article explains major problems China's health care is facing. Here is an excerpt;

China's health-care system is in disarray, a side effect of the market reforms that have spurred private enterprise and rapid growth since 1980. Before then, state-owned companies offered cradle-to-grave care, part of a system based on danwei, or work units, that provided health, education, pensions and other benefits. But as the economy has grown more diverse, an increasing number of Chinese have had to fend for themselves, with only a porous government insurance program to help.

As U.S. lawmakers engage in a tense debate over health-care reform, Chinese authorities, too, are attempting to fix their system. Over the past five years, the government has tried to provide coverage to more of its 1.4 billion people. But even people covered by a minimal health insurance program are often left with big hospital bills and must pay for most outpatient services and medication. More than 300 million people do not have any health insurance.

There are similar problems of coverage for both China and the US. I hope that our proposed health care bill is further changed to evade the problems China is having.
On a separate note, my mom has first hand experience with Chinese hospitals, saying they included long waits and poorer service than US hospitals. This may be another downside to adopting a "socialized" health care program, but I still need to do more research into our health programs to make a more intelligent diagnosis.