China appropriated 14 billion yuan (about 2.14 billion U.S. dollars) last year to subsidize basic medical insurance for nearly 78.37 million people living in poverty, said the National Healthcare Security Administration Tuesday.

Medical insurance helped the group save 118.83 billion yuan in medical expenses in 2020, according to a report released by the administration.

The central government allocated 26 billion yuan in medical assistance subsidies in 2020, up 6 percent from the year before, and another 4 billion yuan was used to improve health care protections for people living in deeply impoverished rural areas, according to the report.