China seeks its own health reforms

The Chinese are also trying to change their health care system, but as the United States tries to extend insurance to all, "China is simply attempting to provide a modicum of coverage for its people," Reuters reports. The Chinese are also trying to stop the hospital system's "reliance on peddling drugs to earn revenue. … One illness can ruin a Chinese family, driving everyone — from well-paid white collar employees at foreign firms to migrant construction workers and hard-scrabble farmers — to save around 40 percent of household income for a rainy day."

Chinese economists argue that lowering costs could allow the Chinese to spend more of their disposable income and ease tensions with Washington over the trade deficit (Hornby, 11/8).