Rural migrant workers will be given the option of joining the basic medical insurance scheme for urban residents under a new action plan for health care reform for the coming three years.
Reducing the huge gap in the medical services and insurance coverage enjoyed by urban and rural dwellers is one of the key tasks pinpointed by the latest round of health care reform.
The government is working to expand insurance schemes to cover the vast numbers of rural migrants working in cities, which scholars estimate at more than 100 million.
Most rural dwellers are entitled to join the rural medical insurance cooperatives, but these schemes have been criticised for the low level of compensation to policyholders. Outpatient services are not covered by the rural schemes, and many rural migrants find it hard to claim the medical expenses from the rural schemes in their hometowns if they fall sick in cities.
Analysts said the new measures meant well but would not achieve much if no concrete reinforcement measures were in place.
'If I were a migrant worker I would want to join the medical insurance for urban residents because the coverage of the rural schemes back home is too low,' said Gu Xin, a health care reform expert from Peking University who was once consulted on the reform draft.
