Shenzhen Issues China's First Labourer Medical Insurance Regulations

The Interim Measures of Shenzhen on Medical Insurance for Labourers, the first of its kind in China, have just been released. The new rules stipulate that all labourers working in or having established labour relations with Shenzhen enterprises may take part in medical insurance. The standard charge is Rmb12 a month, with the employer contributing Rmb8 and the worker contributing Rmb4. By paying Rmb4 a month, workers in Shenzhen will be eligible for reimbursement of 80% of their outpatient charges in future.

According to these rules, about 80% of outpatient charges and over 1,200 types of outpatient drugs are reimbursable. Medical items with unit price of less than Rmb90 are fully covered, but for items costing more than Rmb90, the insurance fund will only pay Rmb90. The insured may claim for reimbursement of 90% of outpatient consultation fees if he or she is referred by the bill settlement hospital to another designated hospital under the scheme for treatment and for emergency medical fees incurred in non-settlement hospitals and their subordinate hospitals. Up to 50% of outpatient dialysis charges for chronic kidney failure, charges for anti-rejection drugs after organ transplants, and charges for chemotherapy, invasive surgery, radiotherapy and radionuclide treatment of malignant tumour are reimbursable. Labourers may claim up to 60% reimbursement for hospitalisation. In the catalogue of reimbursable hospital medication, 2,077 drugs are up to the standards of the National Catalogue for Basic Medical Insurance Drugs. The ceiling of reimbursement is tied to the time an insured has participated in the scheme.