Financial burden of healthcare for cancer patients with social medical insurance: a multi-centered study in urban China

摘要

BackgroundCancer accounts for one-fifth of the total deaths in China and brings heavy financial burden to patients and their families. Chinese government has made strong commitment to develop three types of social medical insurance since 1997 and recently, more attempts were invested to provide better financial protection.To analyze health services utilization and financial burden of insured cancer patients, and identify the gaps of financial protection provided by insurance in urban China.