Abstract
In China, the medical security for farmers is an issue weighed heavily on people’s mind. In ancient times, “doctors were only available in imperial palaces” and the medical security system was only accessible to royal relatives, bureaucrats and officials with a certain rank in military blocs. After entering the modern times, China greatly improved its medical technologies and standards, but the medical system and social security were mainly to serve the powerful and influential class and the rich. All the time, farmers made decisions on seeing a doctor based on their financial situations and had no access to the medical security system. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese government adopted different governance policies in urban and rural areas due to the limited resources. Farmers making up for 90% of the total population were excluded from the welfare system. For quite a long time thereafter, China’s medical welfare and security policies and system were only targeted at state cadres and employees of enterprises and public institutions. As the largest group of people, farmers had always been a forgotten part. As a large agricultural country, it is indeed important for China to provide medical security to farmers as it has a direct bearing on farmers’ physical health and rural economic development and social stability.
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Yu, S. (2019). Providing Healthcare Security in Rural China. In: Li, L., Tian, H., Lv, Y. (eds) Rule of Law in China. Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6541-6_5
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