Healthcare net expands, but still not wide enough

China will invest more in rural healthcare services as the country continues to build the world's largest medicare umbrella, suggested a senior official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at a press conference of the 18th Party congress.

The country's further reforms will focus on county-level public hospitals, with the goal of providing 90 percent of locals with medical services in their counties, Zhu Zhixin, deputy director of the NDRC, told reporters on Monday.

"More investment in county-level public hospitals will help balance the medical resources in both urban and rural areas," Yu Shaoxiang, professor of social security at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Zhu also acknowledged at the press conference of the 18th Party congress, however, that planned improvements to the current grass-roots healthcare system are still not enough.

"Our medical insurance program is still at a preliminary level and cannot yet meet the increasing healthcare needs of people," Zhu said.

Urban hospitals devour most medical resources and rich people enjoy better medical services in cities, Yu said, adding that medical services are too expensive for ordinary people most of the time.

Yu also suggested that a unified healthcare insurance program will help medical reforms.