A social security card of the People's Republic of China (PRC). [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

East China's Zhejiang province recently announced that physical examinations using positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) will become reimbursable in the critical illness insurance program after June 30.

Moreover, a PET-CT examination, which usually costs patients over 10,000 yuan ($1,565), will cost just 5,300 yuan in Zhejiang's provincial-level public hospitals by that time.

Zhejiang has become the first Chinese province to make the procedure so accessible to residents. Cancer patients, who often receive PET-CT exams, will benefit the most.