Medical assistance mechanisms have made marked progress. Amedical assistance policy framework has been established; medicalassistance programs dovetail nicely with serious illness insuranceschemes; and medical assistance criteria and capacity have becomeconsistent in both urban and rural areas. Medical assistancerecipients have been expanded from subsistence allowance recipientsand people in dire poverty to the poverty-stricken population Authentic Josh Harrison Jersey ,low-income household members and critically-ill patients inillness-stricken poor families. Trade unions at all levels havebeen organizing employees' mutual aid for medical expenses, to helpemployees with serious illnesses and reduce their financial burden.In 2016 China appropriated RMB15.5 billion in medical assistancesubsidies (excluding illness emergency assistance subsidies), 92percent of which went to central and western regions, andpoverty-stricken areas, assisted 82.565 million cases, and helped55.604 million people with financial difficulties to receive basicmedical insurance. The proportion of inpatient recipients withinthe annual limit exceeded 70 percent. Medical assistance serviceshave become more convenient Authentic John Jaso Jersey , as 93 percent of the country hasrealized one-stop reimbursement from medical assistance funds andbasic medical insurance. In 2013 China set up an illness emergencyassistance fund to help unidentified patients who need immediatetreatment, or identified patients who cannot afford the relatedmedical expenses. By June 2017 some 640,000 patients had receivedhelp from the fund.


Medical security for the rural poverty-stricken population hasbeen improved. In 2016 China started to implement poverty reliefthrough healthcare. Now the rural poverty-stricken population isfully covered by both basic medical insurance and serious illnessinsurance for urban and rural residents. The inpatientreimbursement rates for the rural poverty-stricken population havebeen raised by more than five percentage points. China hasmobilized over 800,000 medical workers to visitillness-and-poverty-stricken families, and investigate 93 majordiseases with high occurrence, high treatment costs and severeimpact on work and life Authentic Gregory Polanco Jersey , thereby keeping a record and setting up adatabase for poverty relief through healthcare. The countryprovides categorized treatment to rural poverty-stricken populationsuffering from serious illnesses and chronic diseases. By May 2017China had given such treatment to over 2.6 million people. Thecountry has adopted preferential policies favoring the rural poorwith respect to reimbursement from serious illness insurance. Chinaimplements a policy of treatment before payment and one-stopreimbursement for rural poverty-stricken inpatients at county-levelhospitals. In addition, China has designated 889 Grade III(top-level) hospitals to assist 1,149 county-level hospitals in allpoverty-stricken counties across the country.


VI. Significant Improvement in the Health of Special Groups


The Chinese government attaches great importance to theprotection of the right to health of special groups such as women,children, the elderly and the disabled. It constantly improveshealth programs, and provides diversified and targeted healthservices to meet the special needs of various groups in anon-discriminatory and equal manner.


The maternal and child healthcare service system has beencontinuously improved. A three-level network of maternal and childhealthcare service has been put in place in urban and rural areas.In 2016 Authentic Gerrit Cole Jersey , the Chinese government invested RMB2.9 billion to supportthe construction of 247 city- and county-level maternal and childhealthcare institutions. By the end of 2016, there were 3,063 suchinstitutions, 757 maternity hospitals, 117 children's hospitals,and 370 Authentic Francisco Cervelli Jersey ,000 gynecologists,