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South China Morning Post
15-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Why millions in China are still quitting the national health insurance scheme
More Chinese people dropped out of the voluntary health insurance scheme for urban and rural residents last year, the latest available data shows – piling pressure on the system amid economic challenges and declining public trust. Advertisement The downward trend in participation – in a scheme designed for farmers and the unemployed – continued in 2024, with 15.8 million fewer people enrolled compared with 2023, according to figures released by the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) on Monday. China's basic medical insurance, which also includes a separate programme for urban employees, covered 1.326 billion people in total – down 7.27 million from 2023, the NHSA said. The falling participation rate poses a challenge for China's health insurance system, which is already under strain from a rapidly ageing population and a shrinking workforce. Enrolment among urban and rural residents has declined in recent years, driven by rising premiums and stagnating incomes. Advertisement 'The trend of less interest in participation continues because the economic conditions have not changed – it's a financial burden for a rural family if the breadwinner doesn't see their income increase,' said Professor Xiong Wansheng, an expert on rural development at the East China University of Science and Technology.
South China Morning Post
15-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Why millions in China are still quitting the national health insurance scheme
More Chinese people dropped out of the voluntary health insurance scheme for urban and rural residents last year, the latest available data shows – piling pressure on the system amid economic challenges and declining public trust. The downward trend in participation – in a scheme designed for farmers and the unemployed – continued in 2024, with 15.8 million fewer people enrolled compared with 2023, according to figures released by the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) on Monday. China's basic medical insurance, which also includes a separate programme for urban employees, covered 1.326 billion people in total – down 7.27 million from 2023, the NHSA said. The falling participation rate poses a challenge for China's health insurance system, which is already under strain from a rapidly ageing population and a shrinking workforce. Enrolment among urban and rural residents has declined in recent years, driven by rising premiums and stagnating incomes. 'The trend of less interest in participation continues because the economic conditions have not changed – it's a financial burden for a rural family if the breadwinner doesn't see their income increase,' said Professor Xiong Wansheng, an expert on rural development at the East China University of Science and Technology.
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
North-South divide for older people 'reversible'
Older people in the North of England are more likely to be poorer, less healthy, physically inactive, lonely and live in poor housing, according to a new Ageing in the North study, from the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), said those in the north faced an "alarming" range of disadvantages compared to older people living in the Prof Alan Walker, from the University of Sheffield, said while the North-South divide was "hardly new" the NHSA believed it was "totally reversible" and called on the government to "prioritise tackling the root causes of unequal ageing".The BBC has approached the Department of Health and Social Care for a comment. Prof Walker, from the university's Healthy Lifespan Institute, said: "This report paints an alarming picture of how inequality has eaten away at the quality of life of so many older northerners. "In almost every aspect we investigated, there is a yawning gap between the North and the South - from their income and health to their housing, social care and sense of isolation."This gap is hardly new, but the most frustrating thing about it is that it is totally reversible - assuming that policymakers are willing to take decisive steps to address these issues, and provide a better life for our family members, friends, and neighbours as they age."The report found that across the North there were more than 900,000 economically inactive 50-64 year olds, contributing to a potential reduction in GDP of £10.9bn per the other findings, it said: People in the South are more likely to retire, while people in the North are more likely to leave the job market because of poor healthBetween 2012 and 2022 the rate of poverty among over 65s in the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber rose by 10%Northern adults over 65 are 27% more likely to experience food insecurity than those in the South1.47m northern homes are considered "non-decent", with over a third housing residents over 60The North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber were home to he highest proportion of people aged 65 and over living in care homes Co-authored by a team from the University of Sheffield, Durham University, Lancaster University, The University of Manchester and Newcastle University and Health Equity North, the NHSA report urged the government to look at "reversing the widening inequality gap between North and South".Amongst other recommendations, the team suggested:A cross-government approach to prevent unequal ageing, looking at education, housing, employment and healthStrengthening collaboration between local government, combined authorities, housing developers, and the NHSDeveloping a national housing strategy for older people and creating age-friendly, accessible homes Shipley MP Anna Dixon, who wrote the foreword to the report, said: "Where you live shouldn't affect your experience of ageing."This report brings into sharp focus the reality of how unequal ageing is across England."Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Mum, 30, begs for more time with her kids as tumours grow in her brain lining
Mum-of-two Amy Rainbow was just 26 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now the disease has spread to her brain, her last hopes rest on a progressive treatment that is too expensive to be offered on the NHS A mum of two who is living with stage 4 cancer is begging for the chance to spend more time with her children, who have no idea their mother is so sick. Amy Rainbow, 30, from Middlesborough doesn't know how much time she has left, after she was first diagnosed with treatable breast cancer in 2021, aged 26. Her daughter Harper was just three months old at the time, while son Elliot had only just turned four. Amy needed six months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, radiation treatment and a year's course of cancer drug Herceptin. Just six months after completing her treatment and thinking she'd got the all-clear, Amy began suffering with intense headaches and eyesight problems. Although she pleaded "time and time again" for doctors to give her a brain scan to rule out any more tumours, she was told the pain was "all in my head" and sent to counselling. Amy and her husband Steven - who had met when they were 17 and married just weeks after her diagnosis - decided to raid their savings to get a private opinion. "The doctor said to me, 'there's more chance of me dropping dead from a heart attack than of you having anything in your brain', and refused to give me a scan," she recalls. Three months later, Amy went to A&E with an agonising migraine. "I had been throwing up, it was just horrendous," she remembers. "I just couldn't cope with the symptoms at that point." She was finally given the scan she'd been begging for, which revealed her breast cancer was back, this time as stage 4, with brain metastasis - a tumour lurking in her brain. It was the day of the couple's wedding anniversary, and Amy's world crumbled. "We were both absolutely gutted. We'd been waiting there for four or five hours and the staff kept dismissing me, saying 'oh, you're just here for reassurance'. But when they found the tumour they had to rush me into theatre for emergency surgery. "In that moment it was like my whole life flashed by. I knew straight away what that meant, because I know how aggressive cancer is in the brain. Once it's gone somewhere else in the body, there's no going back then. I just thought, oh my god, I'm going to die. After the life-saving op, Amy had to have more targeted radiotherapy and needed to choose how much of her cancer journey she should share with her kids. To this day, Harper and Elliot have no idea that she is so unwell. "We decided not to tell them anything," she explains. "We just wanted to protect them from it. I lost my hair early on in one of the first rounds of chemo, so my kids are used to me being bald. I always wear a head wrap when I'm out, so that's just what they know." The treatment has taken its toll on Amy's ability to parent as she'd like, too. "They see me being tired all the time and know that I can't do things that I like, so they just sort of think I'm a bit lazy... but I'd rather them think that than know the reality," she says. Heartbreakingly, three months after the surgery to remove the brain tumour, Amy's medical team delivered the devastating news that her cancer had spread into her brain fluid, in a condition known as leptomeningeal disease. Tumours have now started growing in the lining of her brain, and her prognosis is bleak: without treatment, patients with the condition often die within months. Amy and Steven's hopes now rest with a groundbreaking treatment that could extend her life for a few more months while she undergoes more chemo. Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy takes blood from the patient and 'cooks' it in a lab for two weeks, adding cancer-related antigens that help the body to activate its own immune system against the cancer cells. Once put back into her body, the cells seek out and destroy cancerous tumours - and the benefits are life-long. Sadly, while the treatment is available in the UK, it is considered too expensive to be offered on the NHS, so Amy is hoping to raise £30,000 from her GoFundMe page in order to pay for it herself. "My goal would be to be completely cancer-free, but I don't know if that's too hopeful," she says. "But you've got to have hope." Steven, also 30, says his incredible wife is "beautiful, strong and determined" as she navigates yet another round of gruelling treatment. "It's hard seeing the person you love going through this awful illness," he says. "You just wish you could take it away from them in a heartbeat, and for you to be the person going through it, not them." While some parents in her situation write future letters to their children, Amy feels like that may be tempting fate. "I've made memory boxes for both of them and I put bits and pieces in them, but I'm still hopeful for the future," she says. "I want them to have me here for as long as possible. And for them to have a healthy mum, one who can actually look after them properly. Even though I'm there, I'm not really there, because I can't do all the things I used to do for them. My dream is to take them on holiday and to make nice memories with them."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Head Start federal office serving Michigan shuts without notice
U.S. House Democrats Brenda Lawrence, Katherine Clark and Debbie Dingell visit Wayne Metro Community Action Agency's Early Head Start Program in Dearborn. Nov. 9, 2021 | Ken Coleman The abrupt closure of a regional office for the federal agency overseeing Head Start child care and early education programs in Michigan could lead to disruptions in service. The National Head Start Association said the Chicago office overseeing programs in six states, including Michigan, was abruptly shuttered earlier this week as part of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy's cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Administration for Children and Families, or ACF, the agency that administers the Office of Head Start. Chicago's office also oversees programs in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. A statement from the NHSA warned that the closures could cause 'disruption to vital services for eligible children and families across the country.' Aundreana Jones-Poole, a communications manager for the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, said the state 'is working to understand the impact of this week's federal actions on Michigan families at this time.' Four other regional offices were also shuttered Tuesday. Regional offices in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle faced the same fate as the Chicago office, according to the NHSA. Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, said the closures create 'a walk the walk moment for anyone claiming to care about kids and families.' The NHSA said the regional offices 'play a critical role in providing oversight, guidance and direct support to local Head Start programs,' including helping to interpret federal regulations and providing support to Head Start grant recipients. There are 53 Head Start providers in Michigan. More than 70,000 children in Michigan are served by the federal Head Start and Child Development and Care programs, Jones-Poole said. 'In order to avoid disrupting services for children and families, we urge the administration to reconsider these actions until a plan has been created and shared widely,' the NHSA's statement reads. But Cowen, who has written extensively on efforts to undermine public education, said the administration of President Donald Trump 'isn't interested in policy solutions for kids and families that aren't built on moms staying at home or tax dollars going to private schools.' 'I interpret anything other than strong statements condemning the closing of ACF offices as support for doing it—and by extension support for gutting Head Start, child care and the rest,' Cowen said. The Head Start program was created 60 years ago to provide early education and other support for children living in low-income households. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
