The bureau said earlier that the agreement with Huashan Hospital is to guarantee Shanghai-born world champions receive quality medical services. The program only targets winners of Olympic medals, world championships and world cup winners.
The city's medical insurance office also said athletes and coaches do not have any privileges that sidestep medical insurance.
If they participate in the insurance program, athletes and coaches are entitled to the same benefits as other insurance customers, Shanghai Evening Post quoted the office as saying.
Despite the clarifications, netizens have still descried the preferential treatment as unfair.
"They don't need to wait in lines and have designated hospital staff members to escort them. Isn't that a privilege itself?" a netizen commented on online portal Sina.
Another Web user said: "If they have green channels, others will have to wait for a longer time. It's unfair."
A commentary by Xinhua said free medical insurance is redundant for gold medal winners who have already received material rewards from the government and enterprises. They have also earned a handsome amount of money by taking part in commercial activities.
Forbes estimated that Liu Xiang, an Olympic champion in the 2004 Athens Games, earned 160 million yuan ($26 million) from commercial endorsements in 2007 alone.
Central China tornado kills 3
Injuries rises to 52
Feedback
RSS
