Cross-provincial settlement of outpatient expenses covers entire China

BEIJING -- The direct settlement of cross-provincial outpatient expenses has covered all provincial-level regions in China, benefiting those enrolled in the public medical insurance system, the National Healthcare Security Administration said Friday.

There are about 52,900 designated hospitals and medical institutions in the country, basically achieving the goal of establishing at least one designated hospital, where direct settlement is available, in every county, said the administration.

More than 3.97 million direct settlements of cross-provincial outpatient expenses were made in the first 11 months of this year, involving 96.5 billion yuan ($15.15 billion) of medical expenses.

About 56.1 billion yuan from the public medical insurance fund were spent on the direct settlement of trans-provincial outpatient bills during the same period, accounting for over 58 percent of the total.

The direct settlement of trans-provincial medical expenses allows any patient enrolled in the public medical insurance system to be reimbursed for medical and inpatient expenditure, irrespective of the province they are treated in. The policy was implemented in January 2017.