China has expanded its basic medical insurance portfolio through enriching its medical insurance drug catalogue, increasing centralised medicine procurement, and including more medical services in the scheme.
According to details released at a medical insurance work conference over the weekend, 91 new drugs have been added to the latest national medical insurance drug catalogue, bringing the total number to 3,159, while the most recent round of the centralised procurement initiative has reduced the prices of another 62 medicines for Chinese patients, reported Xinhua News Agency.
In addition, the majority of Chinese localities have added assisted reproduction services to the scope of medical insurance reimbursement, benefiting more than a million people so far this year, according to the work conference.
As a result of a nationwide campaign to fight medical insurance-related fraud, a total of CNY24.23bn ($3.4bn) worth of medical insurance funds had been recovered by relevant departments at all levels from January to November 2024, said the conference.