Medical workers run intravenous drips for patients at the fever clinic of China-Japan Friendship hospital in Beijing. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]Patients needing treatment for COVID-19 will not have to foot pricey bills for hospitalization out of their own pockets until at least the end of March, according to authorities.Additionally, outpatient costs will be more generously refunded if incurred at smaller hospitals serving vast rural areas, they added.The policies were outlined in a circular released on Saturday by the National Healthcare Security Administration, the Ministry of Finance, the National Health Commission and the National Administration for Disease Prevention and Control.For the last few years, the State has settled all expenses for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 at centralized isolation facilities.Payment liability issues were only brought to the fore early last month, when health authorities allowed patients to be treated at any hospital of their choice.The circular said the State will continue to pay for hospitalization costs until at least March 31, as long as patients conform to the diagnosis and treatment plan for novel coronavirus infections, as COVID-19 has been officially known in China since Dec 26. The disease was previously called novel coronavirus pneumonia.Hospitalization costs, usually incurred by older patients in critical condition, will be collectively paid by the national medical aid program for families in financial difficulty, local finance authorities, and two State-run healthcare plans with almost universal coverage on the mainland — basic medical insurance and insurance for severe illnesses. Central finance pledged it will give compensation of up to 60 percent of local finance payment liabilities.However, the liabilities for outpatient spending vary.The circular said that COVID-19 patients seeking medical advice at Grade 1 hospitals, or grassroots medical institutions such as township hospitals, will have at least 70 percent of their spending covered by the State, as part of an incentive for patients to avoid busier hospitals in major cities.The exact ratio will be determined by local medical insurance and finance departments depending on the state of their insurance funds."In principle, local authorities do not set thresholds for reimbursable costs or cap the refunds at grassroots medical institutions."In comparison, spending at higher-level hospitals — including for outpatient services and emergency treatment — will be reimbursed at the same rate as other Class B infectious diseases, which are constrained by a reimbursement threshold and a refund cap, it said.Places facing shortages of medications are allowed to add more drugs to the catalog of reimbursable medicines, the circular added.According to a 2020 report released by the State Council Information Office, the cost of treatment per COVID-19 patient averaged 23,000 yuan (,300).The cost of treating critically ill patients was usually in excess of 150,000 yuan, with some cases costing as much as several million yuan.Before the nationwide reimbursement policy was unveiled, local authorities were racing to devise their own rules to ease the financial burden on those suffering from COVID-19.For example, Anhui province published a circular on Dec 29 stipulating that 70 percent of outpatient costs and bills for emergency treatment will be reimbursed. The rules do not set thresholds for reimbursable costs or cap refunds and apply to both rural and urban hospitals in the province.In Jinjiang, Fujian province, authorities said that 70 percent of outpatient costs will be reimbursed at rural hospitals, compared with just 50 percent in urban ones. The city set a 420 yuan refund cap for spending at rural hospitals, compared with 50 yuan in urban hospitals.Places including Beijing, and Henan, Hubei and Yunnan provinces in December temporarily added a mix of traditional Chinese medicines, antiviral drugs and over-the-counter medications such as fever reducers and cold capsules to their catalog of medicines covered by State-run healthcare plans. Here is shan dong 編輯： 宋基金 閱讀量：615
The file photo shows a wind power plant in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua]The global carbon dioxide level has hit a record high, the China Meteorological Administration said on Monday, further demonstrating that climate change remains a global challenge.Data from the 2021 China Greenhouse Gases Bulletin said that global carbon dioxide concentrations reached 417 parts per million, a measurement for the amount of a gas in the air. That's the highest since China began to record the data in the 1990s, and much higher than the 280 ppm recorded during the preindustrial period before 1750, the administration said.The bulletin included data for the three main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.The bulletin said methane concentrations in 2021 had risen significantly by 21 parts per billion compared with 2020."The law of climate change keeps changing in a way that goes beyond our understanding. Many new scientific issues and key technologies need to be tackled urgently," said Zhang Xingying, deputy head of the administration's science & technology and climate change department.He said so in response to an announcement at the 2021 Leaders' Summit on Climate that China will tighten the control of other greenhouse gases apart from carbon dioxide.Zhang said at a news conference on Monday that starting from 2023, the administration will double its annual funding to 90 million yuan ( million) for basic research on weather and climate change.The funding was jointly set up by the administration and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.The greenhouse gas levels were measured at the China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory on Mount Waliguan in Qinghai province.Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, its data has proved to be close to levels measured at stations overseas that are near or at a similar latitude.The Waliguan observatory took part in the World Meteorological Organization's Global Atmosphere Watch program, along with 30 other participants.The program's 2021 global greenhouse gases bulletin, issued in October, said the carbon dioxide concentration was 415.7 ppm, slightly lower than that gauged by China.The program coordinates observations and concludes analyses of greenhouse gases based on reports from participating countries, including China, every year.China's bulletin is customarily released after the global one.
