In Depth: China’s Struggle to Unify Localized Health Insurance

China’s health care system is plagued by inequity. The number of top-tier, or tertiary, hospitals is heavily skewed toward eastern regions, and almost half of the country’s top 50 hospitals are in Beijing and Shanghai. The uneven distribution of resources is a major cause of domestic medical tourism, which is straining a localized insurance system that is tied up in red tape, hindering almost any efforts to introduce reform.