Towards the end of the year, several "inside news" about medical insurance were widely spread on the Internet: "medical insurance outpatient co-ordination will not be reimbursed until the end of December", "pharmacies have stopped co-ordinating quota payments", "employee medical premiums will no longer be assigned to personal accounts in 2024", "individuals will no longer have their own medical insurance accounts", and so on.
These "inside news" have caused panic among many families and patients. Some people rush to the hospital to grab the outpatient number, and the department with the number will be hung up; some people rush to the pharmacy to queue up to buy it, and then they will say what medicine they buy first; and some people queue up overnight for reimbursement for fear of missing the "last train......
The medical insurance departments in many places came forward to refute and clarify these so-called "inside information". However, the rumors have not yet settled, and some families and patients are still anxious because of this.
Medical security is related to the health and safety of hundreds of millions of people, and medical insurance information cannot tolerate the slightest adulteration and rumors. Using medical insurance to spread rumors, whether it is to make money or increase fans, is to challenge public order and good customs, trample on social conscience, and touch the bottom line of the law, and must be severely punished.
Combing through the messages of netizens, these so-called "inside news" first came out from some pharmacies.
A patient told reporters that he went to buy medicine some time ago, and the pharmacy said that the overall amount in his medical insurance card was still 1,500 yuan, and if he didn't use it, it would be cleared by the end of the year, and recommended various tonic products to him, so that he could buy and buy it quickly.
The Medical Security Bureau of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued an announcement. (Website screenshot)
In addition, more rumors such as "medical insurance outpatient co-ordination will not be reimbursed until the end of December", "pharmacies have stopped co-ordinating quota payments", "employee medical premiums will no longer be assigned to personal accounts in 2024", "individuals will no longer have their own medical insurance accounts" and other rumors have also been widely spread on the Internet.
Some of these rumors are brick-and-mortar pharmacies that use time nodes to sell anxiety and take the opportunity to fish in troubled waters; some are individual self-media outlets who use "inside information" to sensationalize themselves and increase their fans; and there are also a few people who do not distinguish between truth and falsehood, and hold a "friendship" reminder with a "good for you" mentality, which promotes the spread of rumors.
The rumors caused panic among some people and also activated the psychology of some people who are "greedy for cheap". They think that if the annual reimbursement amount is not used up, it is a "waste", so they rush to the doctor to buy medicine. Some netizens said that the designated medical institutions are "making trouble" like this, but they are just to incite patients to spend more money, and it is difficult to hide the profit drive behind it.
In response to these rumors, the medical insurance bureaus of Inner Mongolia, Hunan, Jiangxi and other places have successively issued statements to refute the rumors.
The medical insurance department explained that all localities have established and improved the overall planning of general outpatient medical insurance for employees by carrying out the reform of mutual aid security for employee medical insurance outpatient services, and the personal account system of employee medical insurance will remain unchanged after the reform, and the three "unchanged" will be maintained, that is, the ownership of the balance of the personal account will remain unchanged, the proportion and flow of individual contributions of in-service employees will remain unchanged, and the policy of retirees not paying will remain unchanged.
As for the outpatient reimbursement limit, it is the maximum payment standard that can be reimbursed for outpatient medical treatment by an insured person in the insurance year, rather than the maximum limit for everyone to report for.
Obviously, misreading and misinterpreting the medical insurance outpatient co-ordination policy, spreading and spreading false information such as "outpatient co-ordination is not used, and the quota will be cleared at the end of the year", taking advantage of the panic psychology of the masses to take the opportunity to sell drugs, and even issuing prescriptions online in violation of regulations through Internet hospitals, there is a suspicion of arbitraging the outpatient co-ordination fund.
Medical insurance life-saving money is related to the vital interests of the masses. For the sake of selfish interests, patients are instigated to swipe their cards to buy medicines, and even promote hospitalization, which will inevitably lead to the lack of timely treatment for the sick or even the seriously ill, and the excessive diagnosis and treatment of those who are not sick or mildly ill, and the limited medical resources are distorted and mismatched, which brings major safety risks to the implementation of the outpatient co-ordination policy and the safety of the medical insurance fund.
As a major institutional arrangement, medical security is related to reducing the burden of medical treatment for the masses, improving people's livelihood and well-being, and is also related to relieving people's worries about medical treatment and maintaining social harmony and stability.
In the past, the reform of the medical insurance system focused on solving the problem from "nothing" to "have". With the realization of universal medical insurance, the reform of the medical insurance system in the new era is solving the problem from "have" to "good", full of heavy expectations of the people.
On the basis of "guaranteeing the basics", we should keep the "bottom line" of the affordability of the medical insurance fund, prevent some people from changing the way to "gather wool", and ensure that every cent of "life-saving money" is spent on the blade.
On November 1, 2023, in Wenfeng Village, Xiema Street, Beibei District, Chongqing, the staff of the sub-district medical insurance government service sub-center preached the medical insurance policy to the villagers. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Qin Tingfu)
In response to all kinds of medical insurance rumors, the only way to refute the rumors in a timely manner is to blow away the fog of rumors and avoid the continued spread of rumors and harm the society. Strengthen the publicity and explanation of medical insurance, such as what is the relationship between personal accounts and pooled funds, what are the new policies, and do a good job of answering questions and solving doubts, so as to reduce the breeding of new rumors.
At the same time, the verification and rectification of medical insurance also need to keep up in time. Only by increasing the supervision of medical insurance accounts, increasing the crackdown and exposure of violations of laws and regulations in the field of medical insurance, and promoting the timely rectification of relevant non-compliant behaviors, can we jointly defend the safety line of medical insurance funds.
Exhibitor: Tsunei Rei
Producers: Qi Huijie, Zhou Ning, Ling Weijia
Co-ordinator: Ling Weijia
Final review: Chen Zhichun, An Tao, Yang Xia
Text: Wei Jingyu, Zhang Lina
Title picture comic: Pan Hongyu
Editors: Li Daixiang, Miao Yixing, Liu Yaxuan, Li Yu, Li Ang