The US is not the only country trying to reform a huge health system. The Chinese government once covered more than 90 percent of medical expenses but today it covers only about 17 percent, forcing public hospitals to seek profits from medical services and drug prescriptions to cover their operating expenses. The public has suffered as a result. Major reforms, to be tested in a few cities over three years, will subsidize medical equipment, academic research, physician training, retiree health costs, and the construction of some 2,000 county-level hospitals.