Original Title: Refining Typical Issues, Clarifying Operational Standards
New Medical Insurance Fund Regulations Draw a Red Line Against Fraud (Policy Interpretation)
The medical insurance fund is the people’s “money for medical treatment” and “lifesaving money.” The security of the medical insurance fund is related to the healthy and sustainable development of the medical security system and the vital interests of the general public. The “Detailed Implementation Rules for the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of the Use of Medical Security Funds,” which took effect in April, provides detailed provisions on fund use, supervision and administration, and legal responsibilities.
Establishing Executable and Accountable Operational Standards
“The ‘Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of the Use of Medical Security Funds,’ which took effect in May 2021, laid the legal foundation for strengthening the supervision of medical insurance funds. Supervision work has achieved significant results. Medical insurance departments at all levels have recovered approximately 1.2 trillion yuan in medical insurance funds through agreement handling, administrative penalties, and other means. Intelligent supervision has prevented fund losses of 9.5 billion yuan, initially reversing the passive situation of ‘lenient and soft’ supervision of medical insurance funds. However, supervision work still faces some challenges. The rights and responsibilities of various parties need further clarification, the identification of illegal activities needs further refinement, and new situations arising from reforms need further definition.”
Regarding the identification of illegal activities, the subjective intent of “for the purpose of defrauding the medical insurance fund” is difficult to directly obtain evidence for. Concepts such as “refusing to cooperate with investigations” and “inducing others to seek medical treatment or purchase drugs under false identities” require unified evaluation standards and law enforcement scales as much as possible. Recently exposed cases, such as inducing hospitalization and full-chain fraud to obtain maternity allowances, have raised new requirements for identifying illegal activities.
With the deepening of payment method reforms, issues such as the relationship between违规金额 and fund losses, loss identification under DRG (Diagnosis-Related Groups)/DIP (Diagnosis-Intervention Packet) payment, calculation methods, and timing urgently need responses at the legal system level. Some medical institutions engage in “upcoding” disease groups by altering case classifications or inflating diagnostic complexity. How to identify and penalize such situations requires further clarification of the basis beyond existing rules. The regulatory basis for weak areas such as long-term care insurance, maternity allowances, medical assistance, and drug and consumable traceability codes also urgently needs clarification.
“Formulating the detailed implementation rules is to further smooth the ‘last mile’ of medical insurance fund supervision.” The detailed implementation rules transform the framework and principled provisions of the regulations into executable and accountable operational standards, providing a more operable legal system basis for fund supervision work.
Focusing on Combating Issues Like Reselling ‘Recycled Drugs’
Illegal and违规 activities involving medical insurance funds are diverse. Which ones constitute违规 and which are suspected of fraud? The nature differs, determining the severity of penalties. Drawing a red line against fraud is of great significance.
The detailed implementation rules refine typical prominent issues encountered in supervision, providing a more powerful legal weapon for severely cracking down on fraud.
Focus on combating fraud involving methods like “providing transportation, reducing or waiving fees, offering benefits, or giving gifts like rice, flour, and oil.” The rules stipulate that designated medical institutions that induce or guide others to seek medical treatment or purchase drugs under false identities through persuasion, false advertising,违规 fee reductions or waivers, or providing additional property (services) can be identified as committing fraud. Individuals who, knowing that others are committing fraud, still participate in their organized illegal activities and accept gifts, fee reductions/waivers, or additional services can be penalized for fraud.
Focus on combating issues like reselling “recycled drugs.” The detailed rules stipulate that designated medical institutions that organize others to purchase drugs or medical consumables through medical insurance fraud and then illegally acquire and resell them can be identified as committing fraud.
If designated medical institutions and their staff明知 others are seeking medical treatment or purchasing drugs under false identities for the purpose of fraud and still provide assistance, it can be identified as fraud. In supervision, cases have been found where drug dealers went to a hospital with over a dozen medical security certificates to get prescriptions, and medical staff directly cooperated without verifying any identity information or authorization documents. This constitutes “assisting others in seeking medical treatment or purchasing drugs under false identities” and can be identified as fraud.
Regarding professional fraudsters like drug dealers, the detailed rules stipulate that individuals who长期 or多次 acquire and resell medical insurance drugs from/to non-specific交易对象 can be deemed to have the
Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of the Use of Medical Security Funds
Detailed Implementation Rules for the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of the Use of Medical Security Funds
medical insurance fund
medical security system
DRG (Diagnosis-Related Groups)
DIP (Diagnosis-Intervention Packet)
Therefore, it does not have a geographical location or a cultural history to summarize in the traditional sense.