Orphans from quake-hit sichuan receive free insurance

A total of 57,263 orphans from quake-hit Sichuan Province, in southwest China, on Thursday received health insurance contracts to cover the treatment of 12 critical illnesses.

An insurance fund created through donations will be accessible for one year starting on Sept. 1, according to Dr. Heidi Hu, managing director of the China Children Insurance Foundation (CCIF).

"As the new school term's coming, it's our best gift to the children," said Hu.

"Working with the provincial civil affairs department, I'm very happy and grateful we are able to offer such free insurance to the registered orphans in Sichuan for the third year. Some of them lost their parents in the 2008 earthquake," she added.

Hu explained that the lion's share of the fund to cover the new contracts for Sichuan orphans this year are from on-line small donations, in contrast to previous years, in which the money was mainly donated by large enterprises.

"Actually, 2.3 million of the total 2.8 million yuan for the insurance this year was donated by more than 300,000 individuals online. Small donations, big love. That's the way to keep our project sustainable," the doctor said.

The foundation launched a joint program in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2009 to give free medical insurance to 712,000 orphans, and same insurance contracts have also been donated to kids whose families have financial difficulties.

According to Hu, each insured child is covered for 100,000 yuan (15,750 U.S. dollars) at a premium of 50 yuan a year.

The 12 major illnesses covered by the insurance program include malignant tumors, illnesses requiring organ or stem cell transplants, acute kidney failure, aplastic anemia, acute hepatitis and infantile paralysis.

The foundation has provided about 620,000 insurance contracts to children in 20 of the country's provinces and regions.

"We work with civil departments across the country to search for the possible insurants and renew the beneficiary list every year. Our ultimate goal is to help all the orphans till they are able to take care of themselves. So we need more people to join us," said Hu.

To guarantee transparency in the insurance program's operation and management, the doctor said that all donation information can be checked and verified online at baoxian.cctf.org.cn, a website hosted by the China Children and Teenagers' Fund, the parent foundation of the CCIF.