China Responds to Health Insurance Concerns

China's national health insurance fund posted a small surplus last year, a health authority said on Saturday, a rare disclosure after public concern that the fund was losing money due to massive COVID-19 tests.

China responds to health insurance concerns. The fund generated 2.88 trillion yuan ($441 billion) in revenue in 2021, while spending 2.4 trillion yuan, the National Health Security Administration said in a statement on its website. The financial balance of the national health insurance fund, which provides basic coverage to most of China's 1.4 billion people, is not usually disclosed. China's nationwide COVID tests this year sparked online debate about the state of the fund, with some social media users fearing that the tests were draining the fund and threatening the ability to meet people's medical needs. Healthcare affordability is a sensitive issue in China. Costs are often high because hospitals set high prices for some drugs, medical supplies and doctors over-prescribe. The government has started to reform the price mechanisms for some medical and hospital services to curb excessive profits. "Overall, the fund is breaking even with a small balance. The scale of revenue and expenditure is in line with the level of economic development," the statement said. The statement responded to questions from some internet users about whether some medicines have been removed from the list of reimbursable drugs by some local governments because there is not enough money in the health insurance fund. "The answer is absolutely not," it said. China's national health insurance program offers full reimbursement for some drugs on the list and partial reimbursement for others, pending annual changes.