China on August 30 announced a decision to expand the coverage of the country's healthcare insurance system to include the treatment of critical illnesses, aiming to prevent patients from being reduced to poverty from high healthcare costs.

The new arrangement will further increase the level of coverage that China's healthcare insurance system can offer, according to a document co-issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and five other central government departments. Sun Zhigang, head of the Health Reform Office under the State Council, said it aims to ensure that each patient's total medical expenditure is no more than the "household expenditure for healthcare," which is set at the level of the regional annual per-capita disposable or net income.

Though around 1.3 billion people, or more than 95 percent of China's population, were covered by the healthcare insurance system at the end of last year, medical expenditures incurred by patients with severe medical conditions remain huge, Sun said.

Local governments have been asked to design regulations on fundraising, reimbursement and other details regarding the new insurance plan in line with local conditions, according to the document.

Qualified commercial insurers will be selected to operate the critical-illness insurance program through bidding, the document said.