For 230 million citizens getting ill means a time-consuming and expensive journey back to where their households are registered to get reimbursed for medical treatment. There is also a loss of income to factor in.

However, enjoying the convenience of being reimbursed where they work and live is a dream that may, actually, be getting a step closer to being realized.

A new trial program for rural cooperative medical insurance could result in cross-provincial reimbursement of medical bills in nine areas: Jiangsu, Jilin, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Hainan provinces, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Beijing.