Submitted to the CPPCC by Zhang Liming

Zhang Liming, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC), recently made a proposal to Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and Ministry of Finance, suggesting that the range of children's medical insurance should be expanded to include incurable diseases that have high expenses, and that the refundable percentage of medical insurance should be increased in order to ease the burden on families with seriously ill children.

Now in China, the exorbitant costs associated with curing serious diseases are difficult to afford not only for impoverished families but for common families as well. Every country needs to confront such issues, especially when it comes to children. The China Children and Teenagers' Foundation(CCTF) always focuses on children's health and carries out a series of aid campaigns. However, the aiding resources tend to help mainly the children who have an easier time recovering from their illness and who cost less money; and children with rare diseases, which inherently bring weightier medical bills, are far less capable ofseizing such opportunities for assistance.

In 2010, China began giving priority to the medical treatment of children, focusing on children with leukemia or congenital heart disease under the age of 14. Then, the range for children's medical insurance included 20 serious diseases but still did not include certain diseases that are frequently occurring, that require long medical-treatment terms and that cost a lot, such as cerebral palsy.

(Women of China)