Abstract
The diversity of health systems around the world points to the path- dependency nature of health policies (Immergut, 1992; Tuohy, 1999). Given a complex array of political, economic, social, and institutional forces at work at any point in time, there are decisions which are made at critical juncture points (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2012) what shape the trajectory for health systems development. This chapter reviews the transformation of health policy in the People’s Republic of China that accompanied the major transforma- tion of China’s economy since the 1980s. From a low-cost system of basic health services that produced extraordinary health gains in the 1960s, the Chinese health system, particularly in rural areas, collapsed with the intro- duction of market reforms into the health system. During the 1990s, there were various reforms attempting to address the unanticipated consequences of these reforms but with limited effect (Lin et al., 2009). Since 2009, major system-wide reforms have been initiated, with universal health coverage as the aim.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acemoglu, D. and J. Robinson (2012) Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (New York: Crown Publishers).
Bian, Y., Y. Liu, Z. Zhang, G. Liu, and V. Lin (2005) Regional Health Planning: A Case Study on Policy Implementation (Beijing: National Health Economics Institute).
Bloom, G. (2011) ‘Building Institutions for an Effective Health System: Lessons from China’s Experience with Rural Health Reform’, Social Science and Medicine, 72(8), 1302–9.
Bloom, G. and X. Gu (1997) ‘Health Sector Reform: Lessons from China’, Social Science and Medicine, 45(3), 351–60.
Blumenthal, D. and W. Hsiao (2005) ‘Privatization and Its Discontents — The Evolving Chinese Health Care System’, New England Journal of Medicine, 353, 1165–70.
Chen, L., A. Saich, J. Ryan, and P. Geithner (eds.) (2014) Health Philanthropy in China (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press).
Cheng, T. (2013) ‘Explaining Shanghai’s Health Care Reform, Successes, and Challenges’, Health Affairs, 32(12), 2199–204.
Fang, H., J. Chen, and J. Rizzo. (2009) ‘Explaining Urban-Rural Health Disparities in China’, Medical Care, 47(12), 1209–16.
Feng, X., S. Tang, G. Bloom, M. Segall, and Y. Gu (1995) ‘Cooperative Medical Schemes in Contemporary Rural China’, Social Science and Medicine, 41(8), 1111–8.
Gu, X., G. Bloom, S. Tang, Y. Zhu, S. Zhou, and X. Chen (1993) ‘Financing Health Care in Rural China: Preliminary Report of a Nationwide Study’, Social Science and Medicine, 36(4), 385–91.
Hesketh, T. and X. Z. Wei (1997) ‘Health in China. From Mao to Market Reform’, British Medical Journal, 314(7093), 1543–5.
Hillier, S. and J. Shen (1996) ‘Health Care Systems in Transition: People’s Republic of China, Part I’, Journal of Public Health Medicine, 18(3), 258–65.
Huang, Y. (2011) ‘The Sick Man of Asia: China’s Health Crisis’, Foreign Affairs, 90, 119–36.
Immergut, E. (1992) Health Politics: Interests and Institutions in Western Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press).
Kingdon, J. (1984) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (Boston: Little Brown).
Lee, L., V. Lin, R. Wang, and H. Zhao. (2003) ‘Public Health in China: History and Contemporary Challenges’, in R. Beaglehole (ed.), Global Public Health: A New Era (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 156–71.
Li, K. (2011) ‘Health Reform Enters into Deep Water Areas with Increasing Difficulties’, at: http://news.sina.com.en/c/2011-ll-16/110223474996.shtml, accessed 16 November 2011.
Liang, S. (2003) ‘Walking the Tightrope: Civil Society Organizations in China’, China Rights Forum, 3(11), 11–5.
Lin, V. (2012) ‘Transformations in the Health Care System in China’, Current Sociology, 60(4), 427–40.
Lin, V., Y Guo, D. Legge, and Q. Wu (eds.) (2009) Health Policy in and for China (Beijing: Beijing University Medical Press).
Lin, V. and R. Yates (2009) Project Completion Report for Health Policy Support Project (London: Department for International Development).
Lin, V. and H. Zhao (2008) ‘Public Identity and Private Behavior: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies for Health Sector Reform in China’, in A. P. Den Exeter (ed.), International Health Law: Solidarity and Justice in Health Care Access (Antwerp: Maklu), 201–16.
Liu, C. (2003) “The Battle against SARS: A Chinese Story’, Australian Health Review, 26(3), 3–13.
Meng, Q., L. Xu, Y. Zhang, J. Qian, M. Cai, Y. Xin, J. Gao, K. Xu, Boerma, J.T., and Barber, S. (2012) ‘Trends in Access to Health Services and Financial Protection in China Between 2003 and 2011: A Cross-sectional Study’, The Lancet, 379(9818), 805–14.
PRC — Peoples Republic of China (1998) Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council on Health Reform and Development, S. Council, Document #44.
Spires, A.J. (2011) ‘Contingent Symbiosis and Civil Society in an Authoritarian State: Understanding the Survival of China’s Grassroots NGOs’, American Journal of Sociology, 117(1): 1–45.
Tuohy, C. (1999) Accidental Logics: The Dynamics of Change in the Health Care Arena in the United States, Britain, and Canada (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
World Bank (1997) Financing Health Care: Issues and Options for China (Washington, DC: World Bank).
World Bank (2005) ‘Rural Health Insurance — Rising to the Challenge’, at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/05/6217256/rural-health-insurance-rising-challenge, accessed 5 April 2014.
Yip, W. C.-M., W. C. Hsiao, W. Chen, S. Hu, J. Ma, and A. Maynard (2012) ‘Early Appraisal of China’s Huge and Complex Health-care Reforms’, The Lancet, 379(9818), 833–42.
Zhu, Y. (2011) Health Reform in Large Country (Da Guo Yi Gai, in Chinese) (Beijing: World Book Publisher).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Vivian Lin and Hongwen Zhao
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lin, V., Zhao, H. (2015). Health Policy Reform in China. In: Kuhlmann, E., Blank, R.H., Bourgeault, I.L., Wendt, C. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Healthcare Policy and Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137384935_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137384935_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-48112-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-38493-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)