Beipiao is one of the dozens of counties in Liaoning which is trying to encourage all rural residents to join the scheme. By the end of March, some 98 percent of the residents in Ma Yongshan's home village of Wujianfang had joined, up from 60 percent at the beginning of the year.

    "More villagers have joined the scheme after seeing benefits," said Guo Zhenhe, head of Wujianfang village.

    Under the program, local farmers only need to pay five yuan each every year, half the national average.

    The central and provincial governments contribute another 36 yuan for each participant, but the county government pays only five yuan for each member from its revenue from the transfer of land use rights.

    Zhao Jiqing, director of the Public Health Bureau of Beipiao, believes that the funding is not enough.

    "Without the consistent support from central government coffers, the new scheme can hardly sustain itself. It is imperative the government increases the fund pool to make hospital fees more affordable for farmers," he said.

    The central government has pledged to expand the program to 80percent of the rural population by December and double its investment in rural medical care from 5.8 billion yuan (750 million U.S. dollars) last year to 10.1 billion yuan this year.

    "If the central government could raise its spending on every participant by 10 yuan, the enrolled members will only need to payan average of 49 percent of the expenses on their own," said Professor Hu Shanlian with the Medical School of Fudan University.

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