China’s Ministry of Finance announced a 10.4 billion RMB ($1.5 billion) subsidy for nationwide public health care service in 2009. The funds will go towards establishing a “stable health service mechanism and medical insurance.” The new money is part of China's master plan to allocate 850 billion RMB ($123 billion) to provide universal health care to its entire population of 1.3 billion by 2011. More details...