Li says China has been 'trailblazer' in provision of basic health insurance China will establish a general support mechanism for covering
outpatient medical bills under the employee basic medical insurance
system and broaden the use of funds in individual accounts, in order to
ease people's medical burden, the State Council's executive meeting
chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday. General outpatient medical expenses related to some chronic and rare
diseases, as well as frequently occurring diseases and common illnesses,
which incur severe damage to health and heavy costs, will be covered by
the unified accounts in a step-by-step manner. The reimbursement ratio will start from 50 percent and will be tilted
in favor of retirees as appropriate. Insurance benefits will be
gradually raised as the capacity of the unified accounts increases. "This policy is crucial for people's well-being. The medical reform
in recent years has improved employees' basic medical insurance and
basic medical insurance for rural residents as well as nonworking urban
residents, and has essentially met people's basic needs and achieved
wide coverage. Such accomplishments have not come easily," Li said. The calculation method of individual accounts will be refined.
Employees' contributions will remain under their individual accounts.
Contributions from employers will all be channeled into the unified
accounts. For retirees, a fixed amount will be allocated from the unified
accounts to their individual accounts. The amount will be gradually
adjusted to about 2 percent of the local average basic pension benefits
in the year when the reform is enacted. The use of individual accounts will be widened. Family members may
share in the individual accounts, to pay for out-of-pocket medical
treatment expenses at designated medical institutions and the purchase
of medicines, medical devices and medical consumables at designated
retail pharmacies. The use of individual accounts to pay for family
members' contributions to basic medical insurance for rural and urban
nonworking residents will be explored. Provincial-level governments may set a three-year transition period
to gradually achieve the goals of the reform in an orderly manner. "China has been a trailblazer in providing basic medical insurance as
a public good. We have already gained some experience and must continue
to explore the way ahead to steadily take the reform forward," Li said. The meeting also decided on policy steps to facilitate faster
internet connections at lower prices to benefit businesses and the
public. The construction and application of 5G services and gigabit
fiber optic networks will be vigorously advanced. By the end of this
year, gigabit fiber optic networks are expected to cover more than 200
million households. Basic telecommunications service providers will be guided to cut the
average broadband service rate and the average dedicated internet
service rate for small and medium-sized enterprises by another 10
percent.
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