China makes it easier for families to tap employee healthcare insurance funds

China will accelerate reforms to allow family members to use funds from the personal accounts of basic employee healthcare insurance across provincial regions, authorities said on Friday.

The move, announced by the National Healthcare Security Administration and the Ministry of Finance, aims to further reduce people's medical expenses and improve the efficiency of healthcare fund management.

Under the new policy, holders of employee insurance may use the balance in their personal accounts to pay for medical expenses of their parents, spouses, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren, even if they reside in different provinces.

These funds can cover costs for treatments at designated medical institutions and purchases at retail pharmacies, as well as personal contributions toward basic medical insurance or long-term care insurance plans.

The administration said that regional authorities have already piloted the fund-sharing mechanism in recent years. Over the past five years, a total of 780 million such transactions involving over 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) have been processed, it said.