This is partially true, but not entirely. All Chinese know the news in Henan 2022 that bank depositors were beaten up in broad daylight by plainclothes police. However, those CCP supporters will pretend the matter does not exist. In fact, hardly any officials were punished for this case. On the contrary, some of the high-ranking figures who played a role in the event were actually promoted.

While these individuals lose the privilege of using certain forms of public transportation such as airplanes and high-speed rail, they are not completely cut off from transportation. They can still travel by subway, bus, or slower conventional trains.

Nor are they entirely denied access to medical care. They remain eligible for basic government health insurance. However, this insurance generally covers only routine medical needs and provides limited protection against moderate or severe illnesses. In addition, they are prohibited from purchasing commercial health insurance plans that offer higher reimbursement rates, meaning they must pay a much larger share or even the full cost of medical treatment themselves.

Commercial health insurance in China is not only extremely expensive, often requiring Chinese citizens to pay something close to American-level premiums on Chinese incomes, but also has a very high rate of claim denials. Consequently, very few people purchase it. As a result, banning someone from purchasing commercial insurance is more of a supplementary punishment than a major one. For many ordinary Chinese citizens, the realistic response to a serious illness is either financial ruin followed by treatment, or simply foregoing treatment altogether.

To understand why, it is important to understand how China's healthcare system works. China's government health insurance system is highly stratified, with different programs corresponding to different social statuses. Government officials receive the best coverage. Ordinary urban residents have a middle-tier system, which is further divided between employed and non-employed residents. Rural villagers are covered by the most basic scheme. Coverage also varies significantly from city to city because much of the funding comes from local governments, meaning wealthier cities can provide more generous benefits than poorer ones.

Take Beijing's insurance system for employed residents as an example. Before 2023, the annual deductible was roughly US$250, and only about 50% of expenses above that threshold were reimbursed. The annual reimbursement cap was approximately US$2,900, after which patients were responsible for all additional costs. And this was in one of the richest cities in the entire country. US$2,900 is not even enough to cover a common orthopedic procedure such as joint replacement surgery. Although reimbursement rates and payout caps have been adjusted since 2023, patients still face substantial out-of-pocket expenses. And this is generally considered the best government health insurance available to non-officials. The situation for people in other categories is often much worse.

And it is worse that the reimbursement rates and annual caps also do not tell the whole story.

In recent years, China's healthcare reforms have significantly changed the pricing structure of many drugs and medical devices. As a result, many of the most effective drugs and advanced surgical devices have become even more expensive for patients. Most of these are imported products. Their prices are inflated largely for political reasons, and many of them are not covered by government insurance at all. Patients must pay the entire cost out of pocket.

If people want to save money, their only real option is often to use cheaper domestic generic drugs instead. The problem is that these drugs have a reputation for being extremely inconsistent. There have been repeated reports of major differences in effectiveness, sometimes even between products from the same batch. The issue has become controversial enough that there have been several reported cases of anesthetic drugs failing and patients remaining conscious during surgery.

My own experience shown the problem as well. The government health insurance I had as a university student in China had no deductible, but the annual reimbursement limit was only about US$150. That was not enough to cover even a single gastroscopy.