China still to fully reimburse cost for COVID treatment

Hospitalization cost for COVID-19 patients will continue to be fully reimbursed until the end of March, a circular said on Saturday, despite China's decision to downgrade the disease' management from Class A to Class B on Sunday.

Released by four departments including the National Healthcare Security Administration and the Ministry of Finance, the circular said hospitalization costs that confirm to the diagnosis and treatment plan for novel coronavirus infections -- as COVID-19 is officially known -- will still be reimbursed as before.

The costs will be shared between several State-run healthcare plans -- such as the country's basic medical insurance and the issuance for severe illnesses -- and local finance authorities, the circular said.

It added that 60 percent of the spending by local government will be later paid by the central finance authorities.

To ease pressure for top hospitals, the circular said patients seeking medical advice at Grade 1 hospitals, or the grassroots medical institutions such as township hospitals, will have at least 70 percent of their spending covered by the State. The exact ratio will be decided by local medical insurance and finance departments in light of local balancing situations.

The medical fees incurred by COVID-19 patients at other higher level hospitals will be the same with other Class B infectious diseases, which has a threshold and a cap for reimbursement, it said.

Places facing a shortage of medications are allowed to add more drugs to the catalog of reimbursable medicines.