The Ministry of Health is working to let rural residents pay even less for the treatment of severe diseases by providing a secondary reimbursement, the health authority said on Monday.

The rural healthcare insurance system, led by the ministry and run by local rural healthcare insurance units nationwide, has helped more than 340,000 rural residents who have severe diseases, said Vice-Minister of Health Liu Qian.

"The system has helped finance the treatment of more than 4,000 children with leukemia and more than 14,000 children with congenital heart disease," he said. "It reimbursed 74.1 percent of the leukemia patients' and 77 percent of the heart patients' medical cost."

In the beginning of 2012, the Ministry of Health encouraged all the provinces to reimburse about 70 percent of the medical costs of treating eight severe diseases for people in rural areas, including leukemia, congenital heart disease and uremia.

It also chose one-third of the areas to include 12 more severe diseases into the reimbursement program, including hemophilia, cleft palate and lung cancer.

However, the system has set caps for fees and the rural healthcare system doesn't reimburse for fees above the caps.

On Aug 24, the ministry, together with five other ministries and national-level commissions, issued a statement asking all provinces to increase the amount of reimbursement for the treatment of severe diseases for both urban and rural residents. The statement stipulates that besides providing basic healthcare insurance, both urban and rural healthcare insurance systems should provide a secondary reimbursement for people's out-of-pocket payments for treating severe diseases.

According to the statement, the secondary reimbursement should cover at least 50 percent of out-of-pocket payments.

The rural healthcare system will set aside a certain proportion of the fund to buy commercial insurance to do the second-time reimbursement.

"The rural healthcare system will first provide secondary reimbursement for the 20 severe diseases," said Liu. "The ministry will work to expand the number of diseases covered as soon as possible."

An official at the department of rural health management in the Ministry of Health, who declined to be identified, believed the secondary reimbursement is necessary.

"The fees caps are reasonable," he said. "However, there are severe chronic diseases where people have to shoulder heavy financial burdens because they need regular treatment in the long run."

According to him, the rural healthcare fund will set aside about 5 percent to do the secondary reimbursement.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/18/2012 page5)