ABSTRACT
This chapter presents research results from the evaluation of the Medical Financial Assistance (MFA) program, supported by the World Bank, to extremely poor rural residents. It is found that MFA can help to improve the ability of the poor to make use of medical services, and especially their ability to receive services from township clinics. The chapter shows that adoption of the MFA mechanism helps to reduce the impact of disease on the economies of poor families, and prevents the poor afflicted with serious illnesses from being marginalized. Rural MFA programs are complicated in their implementation, because there are numerous parties involved, including various government departments at different levels, health service providers, self-governing village organizations, rural households, and individuals. Operation of the MFA programs should be combined with that of the medical cooperative system and the minimum living standard guarantee system to reduce management outlays and to obtain economies of scale.
