China will expand its critical illness insurance system to cover more urban and rural residents, the State Council, or China's cabinet, decided on Wednesday.
All participants in the country's basic medical insurance system for urban and rural residents will be protected against critical illness by the end of this year, according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
The coverage of China's basic medical insurance system for urban and rural residents exceeded 95 percent by the end of 2014, reaching more than 1.3 billion people, official data show.
By the end of September 2014, about 650 million Chinese were covered by critical illness insurance.
Under China's critical illness insurance scheme, when a patient's medical bills for necessary treatments using the existing basic medical insurance system exceed a certain level, he or she will receive reimbursements from the scheme.
The reimbursement ratio should reach at least 50 percent this year and will increase gradually in future, according to the State Council.
A relatively sound system for critical illness insurance will be established by 2017, the State Council said.
In 2014, the critical illness insurance program helped 1.15 million patients in China, with the total fund reserve for the program reaching 9.7 billion yuan (1.6 billion U.S. dollars).
During Wednesday's meeting, the State Council also urged market regulators to promote random inspections on companies in various sectors to help foster a fair business environment.
It also said the development pattern of the country's agriculture must be transformed to be more based on technology, scale of economy and safety.
By 2020, the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the country should increase no more, according to the State Council.
