Since the establishment of China's National Healthcare Security Administration seven years ago, the total expenditure of medical insurance fund has surpassed 16.5 trillion yuan (about 2.28 trillion U.S. dollars), with an average annual growth rate reaching 11 percent.
On Thursday, the National Healthcare Security Administration released its latest data, showing the benefits of basic medical insurance have been enhanced steadily.
According to the data, another 91 drugs have been added into the catalog of medicines covered by medical insurance, taking the total number to 3,159.
Meanwhile, the direct settlements for cross-provincial inpatient and outpatient medical bills rose by 27.37 percent and 90.18 percent, respectively.
The 25 provinces that originally undertook the task of poverty alleviation through medical insurance are now having access to three institutional guarantees of basic medical insurance, critical illness insurance, and medical assistance, which have benefited 218 million people and lowered their medical costs by 196.16 billion yuan.
The expenditure of maternity insurance came in at 143.178 billion yuan, up 33.92 percent.
"We have also focused on liquidizing the existing funds, deepening the reform on outpatient supply of employee medical insurance, and expanding the group coverage and usable range of mutual-aid personal accounts. In 2024, a total of 51.2 billion yuan was used by mutual-aid personal accounts across China, which effectively reduced the burden of premiums and medical treatment for insured people," said Zhang Chenguang, deputy director of the National Healthcare Security Administration's financial regulation department.
China's expenditure of medical insurance fund grows 11 pct annually
