MOHRSS Announces Collaboration with Alipay and WeChat to Enable Social Security Card-Based Online Medical Insurance Settlement
On November 8, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security releasedNotice on Issuing the "Internet Plus Human Resources and Social Security" 2020 Action Plan, comprehensively deploy the “Internet Plus” action plan in the field of human resources and social security. Under this plan, leverage advantageous resources in the human resources and social security sector, such as social security cards and big data, to advance “Internet Plus Government Services.” The plan specifies that social security cards will enable 102 items in the application catalog, incorporate payment functionalities, and support various fee payments and benefit entitlement applications. Meanwhile, collaboration with third-party payment platforms such as WeChat and Alipay will be established to build a unified and open data exchange interface for medical insurance settlement, thereby supporting relevant institutions in launching online pharmaceutical purchases and other applications under secure and controllable conditions…
The Action Plan proposes that “Internet Plus Human Resources and Social Security” will leverage advantageous resources in the human resources and social security sector, such as social security cards and big data, to build an “Internet Plus” innovation capability system. It will focus on advancing three categories of sub-initiatives: enhancing foundational capabilities, innovating management and services, and fostering social collaboration, comprising a total of 48 action themes.
Among the 48 action themes, significant emphasis is placed on the application of social security cards. This includes launching a directory of 102 applications for social security cards, widely enabling cross-regional card usage, and achieving "one-card access" in conjunction with other government public services. In terms of payment and settlement capabilities, efforts will be accelerated to integrate financial functions into social security cards, supporting various fee payments and benefit entitlements. A human resources and social security payment and settlement platform will be established, leveraging payment channels such as partner commercial banks and third-party payment platforms to expand online payment and settlement models for social security cards. This means that in the near future, Alipay and WeChat Pay will also support social security cards, enabling online payments.
A greater convenience is that the plan specifies the establishment of a unified data exchange interface for medical insurance settlement, which will support application integration with various social payment channels and be open to external parties. Under secure and controllable conditions, this will enable relevant institutions to carry out applications such as online medication purchases. This means that when purchasing medications online from institutions accredited by the human resources and social security departments, patients will also be able to complete online settlements using their social security cards.
It is understood that social security cards held by currently employed workers in Beijing do not yet have payment functionality, and preparations for closing the basic medical insurance personal accounts are still underway. Once closed-loop management is implemented, funds in insured individuals’ personal accounts will be deposited into their social security cards instead of into separate medical insurance passbooks. Insured individuals will then be able to use their cards for real-time settlement when seeking medical care or purchasing medications. The convenience would be further enhanced if online medication purchases were also supported.
It is reported that,Prior to 2018, efforts were focused on advancing pilot and demonstration initiatives, with the initial establishment of an innovation capability system to promote the development of “Internet Plus Human Resources and Social Security.”, and select a batch of action themes for inclusion in application demonstrations; by 2020, achieve diversified and large-scale development of “Internet Plus Human Resources and Social Security,” establish a relatively comprehensive innovation capability system, and form a development pattern characterized by online-offline integration, orderly service coordination, standardized, secure, and efficient operations, and full openness and sharing.
By Beijing Youth Daily - Beiqing.com