Medical workers provide medical service for Tan Jun, a villager of Yanjing Village, in Zhongyi Township of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing, Dec. 10, 2019. (Photo/Xinhua)

Beijing - Right after giving birth, a woman surnamed Liu in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, enrolled her newborn baby in publicly funded medical insurance online -- all from the comfort of her hospital bed.

"Basic medical insurance is the first gift I gave my child," she said.

Nowadays, new parents in China can enroll their newborns in the country's basic health insurance with just a birth certificate. Restrictions for enrollment have been further eased, and new mechanisms have been put in place to encourage participation and ensure payments are swiftly completed.

These developments are part of broader improvements to China's basic medical insurance programs during the 14th Five-year Plan period from 2021 to 2025. The country is set to launch a new development plan next year.

The recent enrollment rate in basic medical insurance has remained around 95 percent, with approximately 20 billion reimbursements made from 2021 to 2024, said Zhang Ke, head of the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA).

Basic medical insurance for rural residents and non-working urban residents is funded through a combination of individual contributions and government subsidies, while that for urban employees is jointly financed by individuals and their employers. Together, these form the two pillars of China's public healthcare security framework.

For years, China has been committed to expanding the scope of basic medical insurance. This includes introducing new categories such as maternity and long-term care insurance, as well as enhancing medical services to provide easier healthcare access for its citizens.

In January this year, the NHSA introduced new policies enabling flexible employees to enroll in medical insurance based on their residence or workplace, rather than the location of their household registration. Furthermore, those who participate in the insurance program without interruption are rewarded with higher payment limits under critical illness insurance.

During the 14th Five-year Plan period, support policies such as the critical illness insurance have benefited 673 million rural low-income earners seeking medical treatment, reducing their financial burden by more than 650 billion yuan (around 91.34 billion U.S. dollars).

Guo Minjiang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, believes that the emphasis on critical illness insurance in the incentive mechanism balances both the "equity" and "efficiency" of basic medical insurance.

According to the NHSA, 31 provincial-level regions in the country and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have included assisted reproduction in medical insurance reimbursement. The pilot scope of long-term care insurance has been expanded to 49 cities, benefiting nearly 190 million participants.

As of June this year, 253 million women had been covered by maternity insurance, with the basic medical insurance fund disbursing over 438 billion yuan in total as maternity allowance.

Li Tao, deputy head of the NHSA, said the administration will continue working with relevant departments to establish a long-term care insurance that gradually achieves universal coverage.

Breaking provincial boundaries, the insured individuals can now use funds in their medical insurance accounts to pay for the medical expenses of their close relatives, which includes spouses, parents, and children.

Over the years, the list of drugs eligible for medical insurance coverage has been continuously revised, currently encompassing over 3,000 drugs in total. Nationwide, the number of medical insurance-designated institutions has reached 1.1 million.

"In the past, you need to bring a card, queue, and copy materials to see a doctor, but now you just need to have your face scanned," said a patient surnamed Li who has just had his medical bills reimbursed in a township hospital of Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China.

Digital and smart technologies have not just enhanced the accessibility of medical insurance services but have also made it easier to expose violations like insurance fraud.

According to the NHSA, China has successfully established a medical insurance fund supervision system, and over 100 billion yuan of medical insurance funds have been recovered.

"This year, unannounced inspections have covered all regions under the coordinated medical insurance payment program and all parties using medical insurance funds," said Huang Huabo, another deputy head of the NHSA.