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The
fund received 2.88 trillion yuan ($441 billion) in income in
2021 while spending 2.4 trillion yuan, the National Healthcare
Security Administration said in a statement on its website.
The financial balance of the fund for national healthcare
insurance, which provides basic coverage for most of China's 1.4
billion people, is not usually disclosed.
China's nationwide COVID tests this year have triggered
discussions online about the state of the fund, with some social
media users fearing the tests were draining the fund and
threatening coverage for people's medical needs.
Healthcare affordability is a sensitive issue in China. Costs
are often high, with hospitals setting elevated prices for some
drugs, and medical supplies and doctors known to over-prescribe.
The government has started to reform price mechanisms for some
medical and hospital services to curb excessive profits.
"Overall, the fund breaks even, with a small balance. The scale
of revenue and expenditure is in line with the level of economic
development," the authority said.
The statement was responding to questions from some netizens on
whether certain drugs were removed from the reimbursement drug
list by some local governments because there was not enough
money in the medical insurance fund, the statement said.
"The answer is an absolute no," it said.
China's national medical insurance programme, pending annual
reshuffles, offers full reimbursement for some drugs on the list
and partial reimbursement for others.
(Reporting by Xie Yu; Editing by William Mallard)
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