Medical insurance for serious illnesses, for which the government pays up to 430,000 yuan ($69,795) of the medical costs annually for each individual insured, will cover all of Guangdong province by the end of the year, Nanfang Daily reported.

According to the Guangdong provincial department of human resources and social security, Guangdong's two major cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen are seeking public opinions on introducing medical insurance for serious illnesses, which has been introduced in 19 other prefecture-level cities in the southern province.

More than 204,000 Guangdong residents benefited from medical insurance for serious illnesses in 2013, with the government paying more than 840 million yuan.

Guangzhou and Shenzhen are expected to introduce the insurance before the end of the year, Nanfang Daily reported.

The insured are required to pay about 5 percent of their monthly income to participate in the government medical insurance plan, in which the government pays 430,000 yuan of each person's medical costs in a year.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn