Guangxi to reimburse in vitro fertilization procedures

From Nov 1, women in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region may have part of their costs for in vitro fertilization procedures reimbursed, according to the region's medical authorities. It's the latest provincial region to provide reimbursement for assisted reproductive technology to encourage births.

According to the regulation released on Friday by Guangxi's healthcare insurance bureau, in one cycle of the in vitro fertilization treatment at a 3A top-level hospital in the region, a person covered by the region's urban employee medical insurance may have 70 percent of the total cost reimbursed, and only pay a minimum out-of-pocket cost of 2,670 yuan ($365).

Those covered by basic urban and rural residents' medical insurance may be reimbursed 50 percent of the cost. The procedure primarily includes oocyte retrieval, cultivation of embryos and embryo transfer. The program may cover up to two cycles of the treatment, the regulation said.

Li Rong, director of the Second Nanning People's Hospital's reproductive medical center in Guangxi, said that many people have called for assisted reproduction treatments to be reimbursed.

The policy will alleviate the financial burden for those having fertility problems, she said, adding that she is expecting a significant rise in the number of patients seeking medical help in fertility.

Since China allowed every couple to have up to three children to encourage births to handle its structural problems in population, many places have rolled out policies to encourage births.

The National Health Commission, together with about a dozen government departments, issued a guideline to boost births in August last year, saying it will gradually guide lower-level governments to include anodyne labor (painkilling during labor) and assisted reproduction into the reimbursement list.

In Beijing, assisted reproductive treatments can be partly reimbursed at 16 designated medical institutes.

The policy in Beijing was revealed in February last year, but was shelved for more than a year before eventually being rolled out. A similar policy in Liaoning province was also suspended for further study before coming into effect.

In the case of Guangxi, the region's healthcare insurance bureau told Red Star News on Tuesday that the policy will proceed as planned, and relevant details have been issued to hospitals.