Health Sharing P2P Insurance in China
Status
Exodus2 (2021):
"How China is winding down "people's" insurance replacement:
Mutual aid platforms, a cheap alternative to health insurance, are closing in China. Such services were popular - as a rule, they did not even require regular contributions, but they collected enough through crowdfunding to, for example, pay for someone's surgery for tens of thousands of dollars. They were used by tens or even hundreds of millions of people in China. The idea was promoted by large technology companies, and it was even supported by the authorities. But the official attitude has changed - and now the services are being shut down one by one.
Not that the authorities have seriously decided to fight them. But against the background of tightening control over financial and technology companies that began last year (the example of Alibaba and its financial division Ant Group, for which this resulted in a failed IPO, fines and restructuring, not including rumors about the house arrest of its founder Jack Ma, was a telling example), "popular insurance" has attracted the attention of regulators.
Previously, the authorities turned a blind eye to the fact that popular services operate in a "gray zone"-as if insurance, but without strict requirements for the organizers. This suited the market leaders, who started such projects, even if it did not fit their core business (for example, transport or food delivery). But now these projects are an unnecessary headache for them.
In China, almost the entire population - about 97% - has basic health insurance. Some of it is paid for by the people themselves out of mandatory fees, and some is subsidized by the state (subsidies, for example, are given to people living in rural areas).
But for many, this is not enough. In a survey conducted by Ernst & Young among residents of major cities, about 40% of respondents said that government health care is not satisfactory to them. Many complained that basic insurance did not cover the drugs they were prescribed. There can be restrictions if a person wants to get help outside the place of residence - some of those who went to work in another city said that they had to return home to use the insurance."