National Healthcare Security Administration: Further implement out-of-town medical expense settlement and continue to expand coverage.

On the 18th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on “Implementing Major Policy Decisions and Efforts to Promote High-Quality Development of Medical Insurance.” In response to questions from reporters, Hu Jinglin, Director of the National Healthcare Security Administration, stated that, going forward, the Administration will further advance the settlement of out-of-town medical expenses.
 
　　First, we will intensify publicity efforts. In June, the National Healthcare Security Administration will launch a month-long nationwide campaign to promote policies on out-of-town medical treatment, ensuring that more insured individuals know how to register for out-of-town care. Second, we will continue to expand coverage by bringing more designated medical institutions into the networked settlement system for out-of-town medical services, enabling insured persons to enjoy convenient direct settlement when seeking care in another locality. Third, we will further streamline the registration process, encourage more regions to implement self-service registration, and steadily increase the rate of direct settlement, making it easier for people to access out-of-town medical services.
 
　　Hu Jinglin stated that interprovincial direct settlement of medical expenses is directly linked to the public’s access to medical care. Since the establishment of the National Healthcare Security Administration, vigorous efforts have been made to advance interprovincial direct settlement, yielding progress in the following four areas:
 
　　First, settling inpatient medical expenses for patients seeking care in another locality has become much more convenient. At present, 68,800 designated medical institutions nationwide offer interprovincial networked services for inpatient bills—seven times the number in 2017. The rate of direct interprovincial settlement of inpatient costs has risen from less than 5% in 2017 to around 65% in 2022, benefiting a cumulative total of 20.3876 million patient visits.
 
　　Second, significant progress has been made in enabling direct settlement of ordinary outpatient expenses across provinces. At least one designated medical institution in each county now offers direct reimbursement for out-of-province outpatient visits, and nationwide, 382,100 designated medical institutions are connected to the interprovincial network for settling such expenses, benefiting a cumulative total of 69.5991 million patient visits.
 
　　Third, progress has been made in enabling direct interprovincial settlement of outpatient expenses for chronic and special diseases. At least one designated medical institution in each pooled‑funding region now offers direct reimbursement for out-of‑province outpatient visits related to five conditions: hypertension, diabetes, outpatient radiotherapy and chemotherapy for malignant tumors, dialysis for uremia, and anti‑rejection therapy following organ transplantation. Nationwide, the number of networked designated medical institutions offering interprovincial direct settlement for these outpatient chronic and special diseases has reached 24,600, benefiting a cumulative total of 730,200 patient visits.
 
　　Fourth, services for out-of-town medical treatment registration have been continuously improved. In recent years, we have steadily expanded the scope of eligible registrants and streamlined the required documentation. At the same time, leveraging nationally unified online registration channels—such as the National Medical Insurance Service Platform app and the National Healthcare Security Administration’s official WeChat account—we have enabled online and mobile registration for out-of-town medical care. Furthermore, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region has implemented a “treatment and medication purchase treated as registration” policy, under which patients can directly access out-of-town medical settlement services without completing separate registration procedures.