MORE than a million extra people are set to benefit from changes proposed to the city government-run medical insurance scheme under plans outlined yesterday (June 5).

Around 6.22 million Shenzheners are currently covered by the scheme with improvements lifting that figure to 7.5 million, Guan Lingen, director general of the municipal labor and social security bureau told a news conference yesterday.

Payouts for those insured will also be raised under the changes to the four-year-old scheme, he said.

The improved scheme falls into four categories: a comprehensive category that covers the costs of both inpatients and outpatients, a category that covers only inpatient costs, a category for migrant workers and a category for children. Expatriates, Hong Kongers, Macao residents and Taiwanese working in Shenzhen are entitled to the comprehensive category.

Children's medical insurance will be launched this year and will cover 300,000 children over the next three to five years, according to Guan.

Migrant workers' compensation for outpatient treatment for major diseases will increase by 20 percent under the new scheme which will also lower the compensation threshold for a migrant worker's inpatient treatment by 100 yuan (US$13) to between 200 and 500 yuan.

Payouts to people in the comprehensive insurance and inpatient insurance categories will also be increased. According to the new scheme, the insurance fund will pay the total cost of medicines of those hospitalized, up from 90 percent in the past. The new scheme also lifts a ceiling imposed on the total medical cost for the participants who have been in the program for six consecutive years.

Editor: Wing