Healthcare authority refutes insurance ‘dropout wave’ hype
The National Healthcare Security Administration has dismissed recent hypes of a surge in Chinese residents abandoning their basic medical insurance due to increasing fees. It stated that the current extent of the nation’s medical insurance coverage remains largely consistent with that of the previous year.
Western media outlets have claimed over recent weeks that the number of participants in China’s urban and rural residents’ medical insurance has been continuously decreasing.
Many people cannot afford the personal payment standard which rose from 350 yuan ($48.36) in 2022 to 380 yuan in 2023, causing many to opt out of the insurance, and resulting in a “dropout wave” in some rural areas, the media reports said.
Responding to such hypes, the administration said at a press conference on Thursday that per the latest data by the end of March 2024, China’s medical insurance system has shown a stable landscape, and the vast majority of residents still have confidence in the country’s basic medical insurance.
The total number of people covered by China’s basic medical insurance reached 1.33 billion at the end of 2023, accounting for over 95 percent of the country’s population.
Medical insurance departments have provided assistance to nearly 80 million low-income individuals nationwide in 2023, alleviating their financial burden.
The rate of low-income individuals in rural areas covered by medical insurance has remained stable at over 99 percent, effectively safeguarding the interests of the vulnerable groups, the administration said.
In a separate development, it has become a trend for Hong Kong residents to seek medical treatment in the Chinese mainland, particularly in the neighboring city of Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong Province.
According to media reports, the tight medical resources and long waiting times in public healthcare institutes in Hong Kong have resulted in strong complaints, leading many Hong Kong residents opt for medical services in the mainland.