ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes China's health care system reform under globalization and provides a few policy proposals accordingly. As China enters the World Trade Organization (WTO), the opening of its financial and insurance market will bring new opportunities and challenges for reforming China's health care system. While China is painstakingly reforming its health care system, western countries, most noticeably, the United States, are reforming their health care systems. From 1950 to 1980, China had a National Health Insurance system in urban areas, which consisted of two programs. One was the Government Employee Medical Insurance Program and the other was the Industrial Labor Medical Insurance Program. In rural areas, there was the Rural Cooperative Medical Service Program. Since its inception in China over 40 years ago, the Employee Medical Insurance Programs has made significant contributions in alleviating the medical risks faced by employees and improving their general health status.
