OBJECTIVES: Understanding the characteristics and distribution of inpatients who have basic medical insurance within China, Analyzing the treatment status and inpatients’ expenses, Studying and summarizing the application of various kinds of medication, Providing database to government for supporting drug regulatory policy . METHODS: We conducted a sampling survey of inpatients with basic medical insurance in all the provinces in China by city. In 2010, we extracted data of 157,577 inpatients, and accounting for 0.5% of the total sample size. The sampled data was statistically analyzed by SQL Server 2003. RESULTS: Average hospital expenses per visit increased rapidly while drug expenses remained high. In 2009, the average hospital expense of inpatients with basic medical insurance reached RMB7,670 Yuan per visit, a 13.6% increased from the previous year. The drug expense was accounted for 49.1% of the total. Overall the spectrum of diseases of inpatients is stable while the proportion of tumor patients was increasing. In 2009, among those inpatients afflicted by various diseases, the Cardiovascular system diseases accounted for 26.75%, which still kept the first position, and Tumors accounted for 12.35% (10.95% in 2008). CONCLUSIONS: 1)Effects from the aging population, the health insurance fund spent mostly on the elderly, are more obvious. In 2009, among urban basic medical insured people, inpatients that are over sixty accounted for 49.2%, with 55.26% of the total expense. 2) The Medical Insurance Fund had a high concentration of resource use. In 2009, 9.3% of the drugs accounted for 80% the total drug expense. 3) The rational use of drugs is not optimistic. The expense of antibiotic medicines accounted for 29.3% of the total expense of chemical medicines, the number of the inpatients that have taken conbinational antibiotics accounted for 63.7% of the total inpatients. Abuse of Traditional-Chinese-Medicine-injection and drugs for adjuvant-treatment also needs to be monitored.