BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers on Monday reviewed a draft law that proposes improving the maternity insurance system and expanding its coverage.
The draft healthcare security law is now under a second deliberation at a session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee that began on Monday.
The move comes as China has stepped up efforts in recent years to extend maternity insurance to people in flexible employment, with some parts of the country already implementing the reform. Currently, 255 million people in China are enrolled in the maternity insurance system.
Thanks to the rapid development of information technology, a large number of people in China are now working on their own terms -- as delivery riders, ride-hailing drivers, or freelancers -- bringing the total number of flexible workers to more than 200 million. Officials say flexible work is creating new job opportunities and giving fresh momentum to economic growth.
By enshrining reforms to improve and expand maternity insurance in the draft law, more people, especially those in flexible employment, will be covered by maternity insurance, said Liu Xuanlin, deputy director of the medical security law and policy research center of China University of Political Science and Law and deputy secretary-general of the China Health Law Society.
"This protects their reproductive and health rights, lowers their medical costs, and could help boost their willingness to have children," he added.
The draft also adds a provision stating that the country encourages the development of commercial health insurance, charitable donations related to healthcare and mutual medical aid, in order to meet diverse health security needs.
The draft also stipulates that efforts should be made to coordinate local governments to establish a risk control mechanism for the basic medical insurance fund, and develop a medium-to-long-term revenue-expenditure balance mechanism as well as an emergency response mechanism. ■
