OBJECTIVES: To understand the hospitalization expenses and the cost-sharing situation among Chinese stroke patients covered by Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI). METHODS: The data are derived from China Health Insurance Research Association’s (CHIRA) Survey (2012). The survey adopts the systematic sampling method to draw samples from the inpatients with UEBMI of the previous year and gets details about their disease diagnosis, medical service utilization and expenses. The sampling rate varies with different regions with an average rate of 2%~10%. SPSS17.0 is used to conduct the statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 22,765 stroke patients were obtained from the sampling. The proportion of male stroke patients (59%) was obviously higher than female patients (41%). As for age, stroke patients aged 70~79 accounted for the highest ratio (32%), followed by 60~69 (27%) and 50~59 (19%). The average LOS of stroke patients was 16.2 days, which was longer in the tier-3 hospitals (17.4 days) than in the tier-2 ones (15.3 days). The average hospitalization expenses were 8,598 yuan, the average drug expenses were 5,049 yuan, accounting for about 59% of the total hospitalization expenses. Average costs of the tier-3 hospitals were higher than other hospitals, with the average hospitalization expenses being 13,381 yuan and the average drug expenses being 7,318 yuan (occupying about 55% of the hospitalization expenses). The UEBMI payment accounted for about 69% of the total hospitalization expenses and about 79% of the drug cost. Patients’ co-payment proportion was higher in tier-3 hospitals than other ones. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese stroke patients are mostly over 50 years old, with more male patients than female patients. The average hospitalization expenses are 8,598 yuan and payer’s payment proportion is lower than 70%. Expenses of the tier-3 hospitals are apparently higher than other hospitals. Medicine charges take up more than half of the hospitalization expenses.