BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China will implement a set of guidelines on Wednesday to strengthen the crackdown on fraud in the country's universal basic medical insurance.
The guidelines were released earlier this year by China's National Healthcare Security Administration, which stated that they will provide detailed provisions on the utilization, supervision and management of the basic medical insurance fund.
According to the guidelines, designated institutions -- including hospitals, clinics and pharmacies -- of the basic medical insurance may be regarded as having committed medical insurance fraud if they induce people to seek medical treatment or purchase drugs under false identities through persuasion, false advertising, improper fee waivers, or by offering additional money.
Individuals can also be penalized for fraud if they knowingly participate in activities involving the fraudulent use of the medical insurance fund.
The guidelines also say that reselling drugs, medical consumables or medical service items that have already been paid by the basic medical insurance fund can be considered illegal resale.
Gu Rong, an official with the administration in charge of fund supervision and management, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the administration will launch pilot programs for medical insurance credit management covering both designated institutions and insured individuals nationwide. ■
