Cha Guoqun left his village to work doing odd jobs in the city of Hangzhou, in eastern China. When a cut on his leg got infected in November 2006, and prevented him from working, he visited a state hospital. As Cha had no health insurance, the doctor gave him two options. Either pay 1000 yuan (US$12) a day for treatment, the equivalent of his entire monthly income, or have his leg amputated. In this instance Cha got lucky. He received subsidized treatment from a Christian charity hospital, and was able to save his leg. As he said, “I was lucky this time, but on the whole, medical treatment is too expensive for people like me.”