"Traditional Chinese medicine treatment of 100% reimbursed" has what good?

Author: leung faat Fei

"The China business news"

Some media recently reported that health development planning commission push reform experience in gansu province, Chinese medicine treatment of 100% for reimbursement. So-called expenses 100%, according to health development planning commission director wei-zhong liu, gansu province, is "the general use of traditional Chinese medicine into the health care reimbursement directory".

For health development planning commission, the measure someone shout said, is the patient's Gospel, the Gospel is the traditional Chinese medicine. But, wait a minute, what is going on, let's take a look at the policy to clap brick or thumb up again.

"Traditional Chinese medicine treatment of 100% expenses", the first feeling, is to carry forward the quintessence, in order to carry forward traditional Chinese medicine. Carefully read the reports, however, only to find that is not so simple, the real purpose of full reimbursement, is to save medicare.

Wei-zhong liu, director of the gansu province health development planning commission, was quoted as saying that: "the doctor of traditional Chinese medicine is cheap, because there is no inspection fee. A check may need 2000 pieces of inspection fee, western medicine treatment, will spend first." Wei-zhong liu said, western medicine diagnosis and treatment of hospital, before the body feel comfortable, hospital patients are not willing to, lead to hospital beds turnover rate is low, profits down. And the doctor of traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment can avoid the problem of hospital patients are not willing to, raise the efficiency of the hospital, hospital and social benefits of a win-win situation. "So it can reduce the inspection fee, XiYaoFei, the overall medical costs has saved."

Originally this experience to be pushed to the nation, the real goal is to save the inspection fee, XiYaoFei and hospitalization, thus saving the overall medical costs. So, this means that medical cost saving?

At present, our country has achieved a complete coverage of social medical insurance, in addition to a small number of senior cadres in also enjoy quite level accountable to public health care system, the vast majority of people have been built into the social medical insurance, the town of medical insurance for urban workers and urban residents medical treatment insurance, new rural cooperatives medical service (hereinafter referred to as new farming). Now, urban residents medical insurance and new farming has integrated system. So, from now, the main undertaker of medical expenses is patient and the medical insurance fund. "Traditional Chinese medicine treatment of 100% reimbursed" if save medical expense, actually also is to save the expense of medical insurance fund, personal spending, of course, also save the patients.

The importance of social insurance system, medical insurance and the burden of people, is second only to the second largest social insurance of endowment insurance. But like the endowment insurance, medical insurance fund is also pay gap, some places do not cover the medical insurance fund has been closed, risk has been spending. Finance minister Lou jiwei, therefore, was on several occasions suggest continued after the worker is retired pay medical insurance, but also has been questioned. It is believed that can reduce the artificially high drug prices and health care costs, reduce medical costs, reduce the pressure on health-care spending. Now, we have seen, so he found a way to compress medical expenses, it is the experience of gansu: encourage and guide people use traditional Chinese medicine treatment, check less, don't be in hospital, do not eat western medicine.

From the point of view of saving the health-care costs, which seems to be a good choice. It seems to be realized the win-win between patients with medical insurance fund and individual: everyone is saving money. However, the savings that policy, but there is a huge risk.

Medical insurance fund is scarce, will more on reimbursement list of traditional Chinese medicine, inevitably mean more western medicine western medicine project cannot be included in the directory of insurance reimbursement. Since the promotion of traditional Chinese medicine is a policy of the government, and the policy to traditional Chinese medicine on reimbursement list of rules to guide, then, under the government strongly advocated, under the economic leverage of leverage, more patients will choose to abandon western medicine in the treatment of western medicine treatment of Chinese medicine.

From the point of treatment effect, although in some aspects of traditional Chinese medicine has its own strengths, but by no means can cure-all, who don't particularly like gansu province development planning commission director wei-zhong liu long professed interventions. Wei-zhong liu of Chinese medicine has been promoted in gansu, advocate treatment with pig's feet all diseases in treatment of depression of lily flower, used to let du second pulse method to treat some diseases, its effectiveness is a big question. Instead, by check the operation of western medicine, and after a long trial, the strict examination and approval and into the effect of clinical use of drugs, is still can't replace of traditional Chinese medicine. If the government strongly advocated the traditional Chinese medicine treatment, and patients induced by means of full reimbursement of traditional Chinese medicine to make the government hopes to choice, so, therapeutic effect and quality can be guaranteed, patients will be misled and delay treatment, I'm afraid he is not a small problem. If the government managed to guide people to see the doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, medical insurance fund, and the patient's spending down, but it also dropped, treatment effect, then, it definitely shouldn't be the effect of the health reform should pursue. When the original can choose by western medicine testing, inspection and hospitalization of patients, but choose the doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, in response to the government called on delayed treatment because of this, cause irreparable consequences, in this case, the government isn't there a responsibility?

A good insurance reimbursement policy inevitably to the pursuit of money, also want to pursue. Efficacy, especially the key of the health, money is only based on the curative effect of saving money. If there is no curative effect, save money have what use? If there is no effect, then, to spend less money, also is waste. So the ideal reimbursement system, it should be possible to have curative effect of drugs, examination and treatment in medical insurance directory, regardless of the doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, western medicine also regardless of price and the price is low. Sense it is obvious that we take part in the main purpose of the health care or to cure. In principle, if can cure disease, the price is high some of the drugs and treatment, should also be included in the directory; If you can't heal, and cheap medicines and treatments, should not be included. Currently exists to pay medical insurance fund gap, of course, for some of the very high price of drugs and treatment, medical insurance fund is unable to bear alone, in this case, by patients share the cost, is also reasonable. But can't because of the difficulty of medical insurance fund has just don't ask, don't curative effect, only the items listed in the list, cheap wrongly guide even misleading patients.