The plan for healthy development of Beijing residents during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) was issued on Aug 22 with 35 indicators, with residents' and environmental health as its core. According to the policy, within the next five years Beijing will provide basic physical examination services, which is likely to be subsumed into medical reimbursement. During the 12th Five-Year Plan, major health indicators of Beijing residents will reach or be close to the level in developed countries, says an article on xinhuanet.com. Excerpts:

Medical insurance comes into play only when an insured person falls seriously ill or is admitted to hospital for a long time, which to some extent makes medical insurance less about disease prevention and more about cure. Many companies still don't pay their employees to take regular physical tests. If an employee takes such a test, he/she has to pay for it.

But the latest policy aims to shift the focus on prevention and not only cure, and will help turn medical insurance into "health insurance". The policy is also aimed at raising the health consciousness of the insured, ease their economic burden and improve health management by including medical checkup fees in medical reimbursement.

Besides, it would help relieve the pressure on medical insurance funds to some extent. Regular medical checkups help patients know their health condition and prevent illnesses, and thus reduce medical costs for treatment of ordinary ailments.

Many local governments now promote the building of healthy cities by establishing a system of socialized disease prevention and treatment, for which the existing medical insurance reimbursement system has to be adjusted. Beijing's new health policy introduces "health insurance" in medical insurance and will certainly benefit the insured.

(China Daily 08/26/2011 page9)