(ECNS) -- China's medical insurance policies for COVID infections will be adjusted soon as the country prepares to downgrade management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B from Jan. 8, 2023.
An insider told Chinese financial media outlet Yicai that China's National Healthcare Insurance Administration is formulating a guidance document on medical care policy adjustment targeting COVID-19 infections and will release it to local departments soon.
In late December, a document released by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 said that a timely adjustment would be made to medical care policies for COVID-19 cases following the National Health Commission's statement that China has renamed COVID-19 from "novel coronavirus pneumonia" to "novel coronavirus infection," and will downgrade management of the disease from Class A to Class B.
Ahead of the coming national-level adjustment, many regional healthcare security departments have already introduced temporary policies to manage the surging infections and ease their financial burden after the COVID response shift.
East China's Anhui Province decided on Dec. 29, 2022, to cover COVID-19 disease outpatient treatment in its healthcare reimbursement scheme and zero the deductible line for disease insurance, with the reimbursement rate at 70 percent.
As of Tuesday, medical bills from these outpatient treatments in the province totaled 3.69 million yuan (about $535,357), of which 2.41 million yuan was covered by medical insurance funds, Xinhua reported.
Northeast China's Shenyang City announced to exempt fees below the deductible line for hospitalized patients while Beijing included Paxlovi, a Pfizer-developed drug with active ingredients nirmatrelvir and ritonavir into its healthcare reimbursement scheme.
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