Medical insurance program to cover 79 cities

Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday that a pilot medical insurance program will be launched across 79 cities by September this year, state media reported. The program will cover medical expenses associated with "major diseases" for needy urban residents, including primary and middle school students, the elderly and the unemployed. The current urban medical insurance system only covers the employed or self-employed. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security said the central government will subsidize the program in central and western China while governments in the more prosperous eastern regions must partly fund the program.