The anxious Chinese woman wanted to ensure that her mother would receive the best care during her upcoming gall-bladder surgery. So the woman, surnamed Cheng, cornered the dean of surgery at a hospital in eastern China’s Anhui province and pressed an envelope in the doctor’s hands. Inside the hongbao — or “red packet,” as such cash bequests are known in China — was 1,000 yuan, or around $160. The doctor took the envelope without questions. “Everybody does this,” Cheng recalls. “If you don’t give a hongbao, you’ll stand out.” China’s medical system has to treat the world’s largest national population, a massive cohort that is rapidly aging. The illnesses that plague Chinese patients are shifting from life-threatening third-world ailments that can be treated relatively cheaply to the more complex and chronic infirmities of economically developed societies. It’s a daunting task — and an expensive one. Since China’s transition from a completely socialist model, medical bills have become one of the most common factors sending Chinese into poverty. That’s because hospitals have had their government funding slashed, forcing clinics to pass the cost burden to patients. In recent years, the central government has rolled out public health coverage to increase access to affordable care. (MORE: As a Disgraced Chinese Politician Is Indicted, Rights Activists Also Feel the Law’s Wrath) These reforms notwithstanding, China’s medical system is still deeply diseased, riddled by corruption that impedes efficient caregiving and sends costs skyrocketing for patients. Beyond the proliferation of hongbao, hospitals recommend unnecessary but expensive tests and procedures to keep afloat departments now starved of public money. Extra fees for ambiguous items often end up on medical bills. Medical manufacturers and drug companies are also complicit, handing out cash to health workers in exchange for their products being used in hospitals. China’s corrupt health care sector was exposed last month when foreign pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline was accused by government regulators of bribery and overcharging for its drugs. GSK staff in China have been detained and implicated in allegedly channeling up to $490 million through … Continue reading How Corruption Blights China’s Health Care System