The insurance program covering serious illness covered 219 cities by the end of November, said Ma Xiaowei, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, at the State Council's weekly policy briefing on Feb 6.

The fund for treating serious illnesses totals 9.7 billion yuan (about $1.554 billion) and benefits 1.15 million people in the year 2014, while actual compensation has gone up approximately 12 percentage points, on top of the basic compensation rate for the new rural cooperative medical program, Ma said.

The government will expand critical illness coverage to more illnesses and improve the reimbursements for patients in 2015, he added.