Although there are as many as 408 medical insurance institutions in Guangzhou, most patients flock to the handful of large hospitals when ill, where insurance deductibles are much higher than at the smaller hospitals.

The concentration of medical treatment consumption at top hospitals directly leads to a waste of medical care resources, and increases pressure to commit insurance funds, says Cui Renquan, director of Guangzhou Municipal

Labor and Social Security Bureau.

In spite of the deficiencies of the current system, the Bureau says the current way to calculate the amount of deductibles is "scientific, rational, and in accordance with the reality of present-day Guangzhou", adding that "health insurance policy-making is highly complex," and goes in line with model that China has adopted, which he says is prevalent internationally.

But the source at the University says that although China's health insurance system has gleaned much from those in developed countries, China"s poor credit environment is not suitable for this foreign model. The professor likens this to oranges?that flourish in the south Huai River, but?wane and sour?when planted in the North.

According to a survey by Guangzhou Public Opinion Research Center, 53.9 percent of those insured consider the insurance policy as beneficial only when they are "slightly ill", 25 percent think it"s not beneficial at all whether or not they are "slightly or seriously ill", and only 15 percent regard it as "always beneficial".

Translated by Zuo Maohong