China expands medical insurance, boosts accessibility and coverage

China has opted to further expand its basic medical insurance scheme by enriching its medical insurance drug catalog, increasing centralized medicine procurement, and incorporating more medical services into the plan, a conference on medical insurance work revealed on Saturday.

Data presented at the meeting shows that, as of November, the basic medical insurance fund had a total income of 3.11 trillion yuan (about $427 billion) and a total expenditure of 2.63 trillion yuan, leaving a current balance of 459.1 billion yuan in the pooled fund (the portion of the public fund used for medical expenses) for 2024. These figures indicate that China's medical insurance fund is operating steadily, with sufficient funds to cover the medical expenses of insured individuals.

According to details released at the industry work conference, 91 new drugs have been added to the latest national medical insurance drug catalog, bringing the total number to 3,159. The most recent round of centralized procurement has also reduced the prices of another 62 medicines for Chinese patients.

In addition, the majority of Chinese localities have added assisted reproduction services to the scope of medical insurance reimbursement, benefiting more than a million people so far this year, according to the conference.

Meanwhile, there are 640,000 medical institutions and pharmacies nationwide that support direct settlement of medical expenses across different localities, providing 213 million services for insured people as of November. Compared to the same period in 2023, the number increased by 87.98 percent.

As a result of a nationwide campaign to fight medical insurance-related fraud, a total of 24.23 billion yuan worth of medical insurance funds had been recovered by relevant departments at all levels from January to November 2024, said the conference.

(With input from Xinhua)