China healthcare costs forcing patients into crippling debt

Shanghai

AS China's medical bills rise steeply, outpacing government insurance provision, patients and their families are increasingly turning to loans to pay for healthcare, adding to the country's growing burden of consumer debt.

While public health insurance reaches nearly all of China's 1.4 billion people, its coverage is basic, leaving patients liable for about half of total healthcare spending, with the proportion rising further for serious or chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

That is likely to get significantly worse as the personal healthcare bill soars almost fourfold to 12.7 trillion yuan (S$2.6 trillion) by 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group estimates.

For many, like Li Xinjin, a construction materials trader whose son was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2009, that means taking on cri…