Chinese government officials say they've made progress on a new health care system. Last year, the government started directly settling hospitalization expenses across provinces. That means health care can now directly cover insured people's out-of-area medical expenses without complex reimbursement procedures. On Friday, officials issued a report on the policy's progress. They say they've simplified the filling process and verification procedures for reimbursement. Their report also states that they've further expanded the health care coverage of designated medical institutions, especially in rural areas. A new online platform allows patients to more easily check information on topics like these. About 49 million people used the web platform to settle accounts in the first half of 2018. That's more than double the number who used it last year. The deputy administrator of the National Health Care Security Administration says she'd like to see even more improvement.

LI TAO DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SECURITY ADMINISTRATION "Currently, enforcing direct settlement of hospitalization expenses across provinces has achieved some success. But in terms of people's expectations, the progress is not enough. One issue - direct settlement needs to cover more migrant workers and migrant employees or entrepreneurs. Another, the rate of direct settlement is still not high enough at this point. And, the information technology system still needs to be improved."