Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 02/2013

Key Issues in China's Health Care

Xiaoqing Lu Boynton, Olivia Ma, Molly Claire Schmalzbach

December 2012

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Abstract

In 2009, the People’s Republic of China announced an ambitious plan to reform its health care system. Between 2009 and 2011, China invested $124 billion in its health care sector and achieved universal health coverage for its citizens. However, the level of actual benefits remains low, along with a visible discrepancy in quality and quantity of health care between urban and rural residents. In 2012, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Global Health Policy Center, based in Washington, D.C., and the China National Health Development Research Center (CNHDRC), based in Beijing, cohosted two seminars to discuss the potential role for diagnosis-related groups and health technology assessment in China’s health system and key lessons learned from U.S. and global experiences. This document reports on those seminars.