BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China's basic medical insurance program saw steady growth in enrollment in 2026, with more than four million additional people signing up compared with the same period last year, an official said on Thursday.
The participation rate remained stable at 95 percent, Zhang Chenguang, an official at the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), told a news conference.
The rise has been driven by a series of measures to expand coverage, including efforts to encourage China's largest cities to lift household registration restrictions on flexible workers seeking to enroll in basic medical insurance where they live or work.
Authorities have also introduced cross-provincial sharing of individual basic medical insurance accounts, allowing spouses, children, parents and other close relatives to use one another's account balances.
China has also continued to expand its healthcare safety net. In March, the government issued new rules on the long-term care insurance scheme. Under the scheme, insured people who are unable to carry out normal daily activities are entitled to regular personal care and nursing services, with eligible care costs reimbursed.
"The long-term care insurance scheme now covers 320 million people, while more than 50,000 certified long-term care workers have been trained," Liu Juan, another official at the NHSA, said at the news conference.
Regarding maternity insurance, 20 provincial-level regions have introduced policies encouraging flexible workers, migrant workers, and people in new forms of employment to enroll in maternity insurance alongside employee medical insurance, according to the press conference.
Meanwhile, 28 provincial-level regions have moved to eliminate out-of-pocket payments for inpatient childbirth. In 2025, maternity insurance benefits were paid out 4.81 million times, with insured women receiving an average maternity allowance of nearly 30,000 yuan (about 4,400 U.S. dollars), Liu added. Enditem
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