China's 9 New Healthcare Measures: More Benefits for Foreigners

Medical insurance generally refers to basic medical insurance, which is a social insurance system established to compensate for the economic losses caused by the risk of illness to workers. Through the payment of premiums by employers and individuals, a medical insurance fund is established, and when insured individuals fall ill and incur medical expenses, the medical insurance institution provides them with certain economic compensation.
In order to attract more foreign talents to develop in Guangzhou, Guangzhou has fully deepened and implemented nine medical insurance measures that are convenient and beneficial to the public, allowing insured people in Guangzhou (including foreign nationals in Guangzhou) to fully enjoy these favorable measures.

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Eligible Foreign Nationals for Medical Insurance

●  Foreign nationals legally working in China who hold a foreigner's work permit and a work residence permit.
● Foreign nationals legally working in China who hold a Chinese permanent residence ID card.
●Foreign nationals without employment who hold a Chinese permanent residence ID card.

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●  Increase in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Designated Points
Insured individuals can handle the designated point procedures through the "Guangzhou Medical Insurance" WeChat public account or on-site at TCM medical institutions. After designation, insured individuals can enjoy medical insurance reimbursement when seeking treatment at the designated TCM medical institution.
●  Expansion of the Scope of Internet Medical Insurance Services
Insured individuals can have follow-up consultations for common diseases, chronic diseases, and specific outpatient diseases (excluding emergency hospital observation and home care beds) at designated internet medical institutions as per regulations. Currently, 43 designated medical institutions in the city have signed agreements with internet medical insurance designated institutions.
●  Internet Medical Insurance + Pharmacy One-Stop Service
Designated retail pharmacies are organized to provide consultation services for insured individuals, assisting insured patients to choose medical insurance internet hospitals for medical treatment and settlement through the internet as per regulations. Currently, there are 265 designated retail pharmacies offering this service across 11 districts in the city.
●  Implementation of the "Dual-Channel" Mechanism for Medications
Guangzhou City has now included 291 types of drugs under the "dual-channel" mechanism, allowing insured individuals to truly enjoy the medical insurance pooling reimbursement benefits of nationally negotiated drugs.
When insured individuals seek medical treatment at a designated "dual-channel" medical institution in the city, if the institution does not have the "dual-channel" drugs required for treatment, they can use the "dual-channel" prescription issued by the medical insurance physician to purchase the drugs at a designated "dual-channel" retail pharmacy within 72 hours from the time the prescription is issued, and enjoy the medical insurance reimbursement benefits.
As of the end of January, there are 16 "dual-channel" hospitals and 30 "dual-channel" pharmacies in the city providing this service to insured individuals.
● Promoting Mobile Payments to Solve the "Payment Difficulties" in Medical Treatment
Continuously advancing the work of medical insurance mobile payments to address the long queue times and payment difficulties faced by insured individuals at various medical institutions. Currently, 231 designated medical institutions in the city can provide medical insurance internet mobile payment services.
When insured individuals visit a designated medical institution that offers medical insurance mobile payment services, they can handle outpatient registration through the hospital's WeChat public account or mini-program; after the doctor issues a prescription, they can then proceed to handle medical insurance settlement through the hospital's WeChat public account or mini-program, eliminating the hassle of waiting in line at the payment counter.
●Promote "seamless payment" for medical credit to enhance the medical experience for insured individuals
In collaboration with relevant departments, we have launched a medical credit seamless payment service that supports "see the doctor first, pay later," eliminating all queue payment processes at the window during the visit.
Guangzhou medical insurance policyholders can activate the medical credit seamless payment service through the "UnionPay QuickPass" App. They can confirm the activation of this service with designated medical institutions at the time of registration or before the visit. Costs that should be reimbursed by the medical insurance fund will be settled in real-time, and costs that should be borne by the individual will be deducted in real-time from the medical insurance personal account or the credit medical account, similar to the experience of using a credit card for consumption. The use scenario covers general outpatient visits, specific outpatient diseases, and hospitalizations. Policyholders can repay the bill before the repayment date. This service has been launched in some designated medical institutions.
●  Further expand the scope of outpatient payments
The reimbursement catalog for general outpatient visits has been expanded to be consistent with inpatient care, and all drugs, diagnostic and treatment services, and medical consumables that meet national and provincial regulations can be included in the scope of general outpatient reimbursement. For example, most diagnostic service items that were not reimbursable in the original outpatient visits, such as color ultrasound, hand trauma debridement, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, CT, MRI, etc., can be reimbursed according to regulations.
●  Continue to increase the number of designated institutions
Currently, there are 2,661 designated medical institutions and 6,025 designated pharmacies in the city, and the number will continue to increase to fully meet the needs of policyholders for nearby medical treatment and medication.
● Strengthen the supervision of medical institutions through undercover visits
To fully protect the outpatient benefits of insured patients and to prevent the rights and interests of insured personnel from being damaged due to the inadequate implementation of new medical insurance policies by designated medical institutions, the Guangzhou medical insurance department has organized a working group to conduct undercover supervision of designated medical institutions.
It is recommended that policyholders strengthen communication with doctors when seeking medical treatment and try to use drugs, diagnostic and treatment items, medical consumables, and centrally bulk-purchased selected drugs within the medical insurance catalog.

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Basic requirements for foreign employees to apply for a work visa:
1. Bachelor's degree with at least two years of experience (certification required from relevant departments)
2. Able to provide a non-criminal record certification
3. Chinese household registration has been canceled (for Chinese expatriates)
4. Possess relevant work experience
Materials required by the hiring unit:
1. Materials required by the hiring unit1.
2. Business license of the enterprise
3. Legal representative's identity proof
4. Identity proof of the designated handler
5. Company's fixed telephone number, etc.
List of documents required from the foreign employee:
1. Personal passport of the foreign employee
2. Academic degree certificate
3. Work experience proof
4. Non-criminal record proof
5. Medical examination report, etc.
Source: Shanghai Foreign-Affairs Consulting