BEIJING, Jan. 7 -- Chinese authorities have released a circular to further optimize medical insurance policies to ease the financial burden of COVID-19 patients.

The document, jointly issued by the National Healthcare Security Administration and three other departments, stipulates that all COVID-19 patients will receive subsidies from state finance for hospitalization expenses not covered by basic medical insurance, serious disease insurance, or the medical assistance fund, if they are admitted before April 1, 2023.

Patients covered by medical insurance can have not less than 70 percent of their fees generated from outpatient and emergency COVID-19 infection treatment at designated medical institutions reimbursed as of March 31.

Such fees at other medical institutions will be reimbursed in accordance with the reimbursement policies for other Class B infectious diseases, according to the notice.

It also specifies medical insurance reimbursement for qualified online medical services.

The notice proposes to temporarily expand the catalog of drugs covered by medical insurance to include other COVID-19 drugs included in the diagnosis and treatment protocol for COVID-19 by March 31.