Impoverished people in Dahua enjoy preferential medical treatment

Poverty caused by illness has been idenitifed as an urgent problem to solve in rural areas, and in order to serve the poor, 20 designated medical institutions in Dahua Yao autonomous county, Hechi have implemented treatment before payment service and one-stop settlement service.

Before hospitalization, patients first sign an agreement for the settlement of hospital expenses, which clarify that the medical institution will not charge patients a deposit for hospitalization. At the one-stop settlement window, patients only need to pay 10 percent of the expenses, as the other 90 percent can be reimbursed from the government.

According to Wei Qihan, director of Baima Township Health Center, 147 impoverished patients have enjoyed the benefits since the treatment before payment service and one-stop settlement service were launched on Sept 1, 2018. The total medical costs incurred were more than 170,000 yuan ($24,020.49), of which the patients' own expense was only 15,700 yuan.

In addition, patients can also choose traditional Chinese medicine treatment, which can receive 100 percent medical reimbursement.

To date, 60,100 impoverished people in Dahua have benefited from the two services and received 15.32 million yuan in basic medical insurance, medical assistance, and government funding.

In the future, Dahua will promote the implementation of three policies: ensuring that all eligible impoverished people participate in basic medical insurance; ensuring that impoverished patients who are hospitalized in designated medical institutions get a reimbursement rate of 90 percent; and ensuring that outpatients suffering from special chronic diseases and seeking medical treatment get a reimbursement rate of 80 percent.