At a press conference at this year’s National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Premier Li Keqiang said the government should step up efforts to link the national insurance network, to facilitate settlement for senior citizens receiving treatment in different provinces.

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, medical insurance will be interconnected nationwide by the end of 2016, and direct settlement of medical costs for retirees living in other provinces will also be initiated this year.

The direct settlement will be rolled out in 2017 to gradually cover retirees living in other provinces, and will be expanded to patients transferred to hospitals in other regions.

On Dec 9, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and Ministry of Finance jointly issued a circular on direct settlement of medical costs across provinces, laying out objectives, policies, procedures, and platform construction for the task.

Last week, the national medical settlement system across provinces passed a test run, marking substantial progress toward final implementation and system integration among different provinces.