Urban and rural residents of Beijing will be under a unified medical insurance policy starting next year, and rural residents will receive social security cards, according to an official document released on Dec. 13.
With the social security cards, rural residents will pay a portion of the medical costs at the hospital for services covered by their insurance policy. They previously had to pay the entire bill upfront before receiving care, and be later reimbursed by the insurer.
The new policy, effective Jan. 1, 2018, will benefit 3.84 million registered policyholders in Beijing, meet the nationwide standards of medical care, and reduce healthcare-related financial burdens for rural residents. The policy applies to urban and rural residents alike as well as people of all age categories. Policyholders who are registered residents in Beijing will also be able to include their spouses and children in their medical insurance policies.
The per capita subsidy from the government will increase from 1,000 or 1,040 yuan (US$151.3 or US$157.4) to 1,430 yuan, with the annual premium set as 180 yuan per person for the elderly and the minors, and 300 yuan for the working-age population. Residents who are underprivileged or handicapped will be fully covered by the government.
With the new policy, 55 percent of outpatient service costs may be reimbursed with a cap of 3,000 yuan, and 80 percent of hospitalization costs may be reimbursed with a cap of 200,000 yuan. The reimbursement ratios are increased by 5 to 10 percentage points over the previous policy.
Many more hospitals and medical institutions will be available for the policyholders under the new insurance policy, making the number of designated medical institutions to grow to over 3,000. Each policyholder will be asked to choose his or her designated hospitals. In practice, the elderly and the people of working age will first visit their primary medical institutions for initial diagnosis, and then get referral to designated hospitals if necessary.
An official from the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau said because 2018 will be the onset of the new policy, policyholders will be exempt from insurance coverage gaps, and they could receive reimbursements on hospitalization costs even without continued healthcare coverage.
In addition, the Bureau has developed an online payment platform. By the end of this year, all rural residents will receive social security cards, which will be activated on Jan. 1, 2018.