BEIJING: Enrollment in China’s basic medical insurance system has remained stable in recent years and rising premiums have contributed to improving the nation’s healthcare services and lessening financial burdens on patients, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Monday.
“The coverage rate of China’s basic medical insurance program has stabilized above 95 percent and the quality of services covered by insurance keeps improving,” it said.
The administration made the statement after official data pointed to a consistent decline in the number of people enrolled in its urban and rural residents’ insurance program and sporadic reports circulating online of an exodus from the program in the countryside.
China’s basic medical insurance consists of an urban and rural residents’ program that mainly targets the unemployed, school-age children and rural residents, as well as a program for urban employees.
Data shows that the number of people participating in the urban and rural residents’ program in 2022 dropped by around 25 million compared with 2021. The number for last year has not yet been released.
In response, the administration said that the declining number is largely due to an overhaul of insurance data that was launched in conjunction with the establishment of an online insurance information platform in 2022.
“For two consecutive years, a total of 56 million cases that see repeated participation in insurance programs within the same province or across provinces have been eliminated,” it said. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
