Health care regime change in urban China: Unmanaged marketization and reluctant privatization

In urban China, health care is no longer free. The workplace-based free health care system has been replaced by a compulsory health insurance system. The new system, however, has not achieved universal coverage of all employees, leaving nearly half of the urban population without health insurance. Although they are mostly public organizations, health care providers have been rapidly commercialized and health care costs have soared. The marketization of the health care sector has become a target of public criticism. The Chinese government has responded with an attempt to launch a new round of health reforms, but there is no consensus on how the reforms should be carried out.