"Not long before the date for our wedding, my fiance was diagnosed with uremia. We borrowed as much money as we could but we still couldn't afford the cost of the operation," said Chen Yuehua, a young woman from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The diagnosis last November cast a shadow over Chen and her fiance. They needed over 100,000 yuan (US$12,913) for a kidney transplant, but only had 2,000 yuan.

Luckily for the young couple, many people read Chen's plea on an online chatroom and enough donations came in to pay for a successful surgery conducted in February.

Yu Fucang, a 43-year-old laid-off worker in Chaoyang City in northeastern Liaoning Province, was not so lucky.

"My wife went to hospital with hepatitis," Yu said, with a lump in his throat. "But later I could no longer pay her medical bills."

A few months later, Yu's wife died of hepatocirrhosis in her own bed with her husband sitting by her side.

"Charitable donations can't save every poor person's life. We must set up a sound medicare system that covers everyone," said Zhang Kangkang, famous author and member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Last year, basic medicare covered 157 million Chinese urban residents, but 400 million low-income residents, laid-off workers, students and old people had no health insurance.

Even those with medical insurance still may face expenses they cannot afford if they become seriously ill.

"People are reluctant to pay too much for medicine so they put off going to the doctor. Then a minor disease may develop into a serious one and a hospital ends up consuming all their savings." This point of view is common.

"Many well-off families tumble into poverty - almost overnight - when they start paying medical bills," said Zhang. "Extending medicare coverage should be at the top of the government's agenda."

When affordable medicare services are unavailable, individual provinces or cities can subsidize public hospitals or set up charitable hospitals, Zhang suggested.

Since 2003, eastern Zhejiang Province has set up a few hospitals where low-income patients can get discounted care if they contract a serious illness.

A uremia patient in one charitable hospital pays only three percent of the regular price, said Zhang.