BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers on Friday voted to adopt a new law on healthcare security to improve healthcare services and strengthen the country's healthcare security system.
The law, passed at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Consisting of 56 articles in seven chapters, the law covers the healthcare security system, healthcare security funds and services, supervision and administration, and legal liability.
The legislation is part of efforts to implement the country's health-first strategy and advance the Healthy China initiative, according to the new law, which also states that the level of healthcare security should be commensurate with the level of economic and social development.
The draft healthcare security law has undergone three rounds of review by the NPC Standing Committee, with the first in June last year and the second in April this year.
IMPROVED SYSTEM
The 2010 Social Insurance Law and the 2014 interim measures for social assistance contain provisions on basic medical insurance, maternity insurance and medical assistance, with further reforms following amid economic and social development.
Experts noted that a healthcare security law is needed to keep up with the healthcare security system reform and address problems such as fragmented regulations and a lack of integration.
"A multi-tiered healthcare security system for all shall be established and improved, with basic medical insurance as its mainstay," the new law reads, adding that the basic medical insurance consists of schemes both for urban workers and for rural and non-working urban residents.
The law stipulates that basic medical insurance shall provide fair and appropriate benefit coverage for insured people, while encouraging the development of commercial health insurance, healthcare-related charitable donations and medical mutual-aid programs to meet diverse healthcare security needs.
The law also has a dedicated chapter on healthcare security services, specifying provisions for a sound public service system and a standardized list of public services.
China has built the world's largest basic healthcare security network, with more than 1.33 billion people covered by basic medical insurance as of the end of 2025, according to official data.
SUPPORT FOR AGING, BALANCED POPULATION DEVELOPMENT
To address population aging and shore up weaknesses in the social security system, the law specifies that a long-term care insurance system should be established and improved.
Long-term care insurance is a social insurance program that provides services or financial support for basic daily care and related medical nursing for people who have lost some or all of their ability to care for themselves. By the end of 2025, this insurance had covered 308.55 million people, with 1.93 million benefiting from it.
The scheme is a priority in the country's five-year plan to improve medical security. At the end of 2025, the country had 323.38 million people aged 60 or above, accounting for 23 percent of its population. The figure is projected to exceed 400 million around 2035.
Lou Yu, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the growing number of elderly people with disabilities has led to increasing demand for long-term care, while existing medical insurance mainly covers expenses related to medical treatment.
"Writing long-term care insurance into law will turn years of local pilot experience into a statutory system and help meet the care needs of people with disabilities, extending the coverage of the healthcare security system," Lou said.
To promote balanced population development over the long term, the law stipulates that the country shall improve the maternity insurance system and steadily expand its coverage.
The law, for the first time, specifies that the maternity insurance fund and the basic medical insurance fund for employees should be merged into a single accounting system.
Experts noted that the two types of insurance have similar arrangements in terms of enrollment, financing, administration and benefits, and that unified accounting will help address fragmentation in the social insurance system, making enrollment more convenient without reducing benefits. ■
