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The policy process and context of the rural new cooperative medical scheme and medical financial assistance in China
Developing health policy processes in China
Authors:
Y. Wang
Publisher:
Studies in Health Services Organisation and Policy, 2008
A vast amount of research has been carried out on the rural New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) and Medical Financial Assistance Scheme (MFA) in China over the past years, but there still exists a gap in the literature, in terms of research of the rural health policy process. This chapter in the book 'Health and social protection; experiences from Cambodia, China and Lao' by Studies in Health Services Organisation and Policy asks and answers two questions: what is the rural health policy process like and what are the main dynamics behind this policy process and how did they influence the process? The author reviews the development of the policy process of NCMS and MFA discussing how public concerns emerged and were translated into political issues and how later on in the process, policy alternatives were chosen and legitimated. Implementation and evaluation of policies are also included in the review.
The paper then analyses the dynamics of rural health policy processes, including the impact of economic transition, social structure transition, a change in decision-making model and policy paradigms, health sector reform at macro level, and influences of different stakeholders at micro level. The author concludes that rural health policies should take the economic, social and political context into account. Non-governmental forces should be developed and united to represent the public interest and a favourable climate for all stakeholders to ‘voice’ their interests has been fostered but there is still a long way to go in developing sustainable formal mechanisms.
