The original
合作医疗 was the 1960s–70s commune-era scheme behind the famous 'barefoot doctors' (
赤脚医生). Revived in 2003 as
新型农村合作医疗 (NRCMS), it became the backbone of rural health insurance covering hundreds of millions of farmers before merging into
城乡居民医保 in 2016.
