Tencent Partners with New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme to Enable Cross-provincial Healthcare Payments via WeChat Pay

Nowadays, medical insurance services have become a crucial channel for urban and rural residents across China to access medical care. However, numerous challenges persist in cross-provincial medical treatment and insurance reimbursement, particularly the difficulties associated with off-site settlement of medical insurance. How, then, can this status quo be broken?

Signing Ceremony for the Inter-Provincial Online Settlement of Medical Expenses under the Basic Medical Insurance for Urban and Rural Residents (New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme)

On February 23, the signing ceremony for the cross-provincial online settlement of basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents (New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme) was held in Beijing. At the event, the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s Center for Cross-Regional Medical Expense Settlement (i.e., the Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences) and Tencent signed the “Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Cross-Provincial Online Settlement of Basic Medical Insurance for Urban and Rural Residents (New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme).”

Both parties will fully leverage Tencent’s resources and advantages in “Internet Plus Healthcare,” mobile payments, and other areas to vigorously advance China’s New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS).Interprovincial Medical Treatment NetworkReimbursement processing. In the future, it will cover regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangdong.Most provincesDesignated medical institutions in (districts and cities) will enable more urban and rural residents to enjoy the convenience of cross-provincial networked settlement for medical expenses.

Address by Ding Ke, Vice President of Tencent

Officials from the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), the State Council’s Office of Healthcare Reform, the Ministry of Finance, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS), as well as provincial-level health and family planning commissions, designated medical institutions that had signed agreements, China Life Insurance Company, Tencent, and other relevant parties attended the signing ceremony. Ma Xiaowei, Deputy Director of the NHFPC, attended and witnessed the ceremony. Distinguished guests, including Zheng Zhongwei, Vice President of CAMS, and Ding Ke, Vice President of Tencent, delivered inspiring remarks.

Following the signing of this agreement, the scope of cross-provincial online settlement for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) has expanded from eight provinces to designated medical institutions across 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). In the future, users of WeChat Pay will be able to enjoy convenient cross-provincial medical payment services at designated medical institutions in most provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), breaking down temporal and spatial barriers associated with seeking medical care outside their home regions. It is reported that patients in these provinces who receive treatment at designated networked medical institutions will gradually benefit from direct settlement services at discharge windows, requiring them to pay only their out-of-pocket expenses. This will significantly shorten the time required for medical insurance settlement and improve the efficiency of payments and reimbursements.

In accordance with the requirements of relevant provisions, including the “Notice on Issuing the Implementation Plan for Networked Cross-Regional Settlement of Medical Expenses under the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme” (Guo Wei Ji Ceng Fa [2016] No. 23), this signing has effectively advanced the work of networked cross-provincial settlement of medical expenses under the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme, injecting new vitality into China’s “Internet+” healthcare services.

Through this collaboration, the usage scenarios of Tencent’s WeChat Pay have expanded from hospital outpatient visits and pharmacy purchases to cross-province medical treatment, with its coverage set to broaden further. As a proactive promoter of “Internet Plus,” Tencent will fully leverage its accumulated resources and advantages in healthcare and payment services under the “Internet Plus” framework to facilitate the settlement and reimbursement process for out-of-area medical care, thereby bringing greater convenience to users.