China Encourages Insurers to Include New Medical Solutions into Coverage

BEIJING, September 28 (TMTPOST) – China has called on insurance companies to include new medical procedures, pharmaceuticals,and equipment into their coverage, according to the 14th Five Year Plan for National Healthcare released by the general office of the State Council of China.

Source: Visual China

Commercial insurance providers are encouraged to provide comprehensive healthcare insurance that covers a range of areas, including medical care, illness treatment, rehabilitation, nursing, and childbearing, etc. The central government also expresses support for coordinated health management services between commercial insurance providers and Chinese medicine institutions, as well as the development of Chinese medicine for disease prevention. The five-year plan highlights the role that commercial insurance can play in society and stresses that more guidelines should be provided for commercial insurance providers to increase insurance coverage and improve product and service quality, offering coverage on items that national healthcare does not cover.

The five-year plan calls for the design of supporting policy for better commercial insurance. The plan says it is important to define the coverage of medical insurance and provide support for commercial insurance companies to develop insurance products that complement the basic national healthcare and cover items that are not yet covered by the national insurance.

In addition, the five-year plan stresses the importance of strengthening the regulation of commercial insurance. According to the five-year plan, the regulators should work to standardize commercial insurance services for major illnesses and have stronger regulatory actions towards the market, making sure the design, sales, and execution of the commercial insurance products are in compliance with the laws and regulations.

China’s national healthcare insurance provides basic coverage for Chinese citizens. It is affordable but comes at the expense of coverage. For instance, the national healthcare insurance does not cover the expense of imported medicine, new medicine, and equipment, cosmetic medicine, birth control medicine, and medical expenses resulting from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, etc. Commercial healthcare insurance is becoming more popular in the country among companies and individuals for their extra coverage and the increasing awareness of health issues that could result from high pressure and intense work.

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