Integration of China’s Basic Medical Insurance System: Theoretical Debate, Practical Progress and Future Prospects

From fragmentation to integration is the development trend of the basic medical insurance system reform in China. The integration of China’s basic medical insurance system should not only meet the goal of health financing, but also coordinate with the overall goal of the health system. Although China has combined the new rural cooperative medical system with the basic medical insurance system for urban residents and establish the medical insurance system for urban and rural residents, due to the defects of the system design itself and the unreasonable allocation of medical resources, the integration of urban and rural residents’ medical insurance system has not fully realized these goals, and needs to continue to improve the system design and supporting reform. Nevertheless, policymakers need to adhere to the correct concept of social integration and justice, clear the direction of the integration of the basic medical insurance system, and try their best to eliminate all kinds of unreasonable gaps in order to successfully achieve the goal of “healthy China”.