Trade unions, social center establish platform to help members obtain benefits

The federation of trade unions and the social medical insurance management center in Anji county, Zhejiang province, recently finished the establishment of a new platform after more than six months of efforts, integrating the websites of their independent medical insurance systems.

The initiative, the first of its kind in the province, could help solve problems in the development of worker medical insurance provided by the federation, such as inaccurate employee information and time-consuming refund procedures, local officials said.

The platform allows the federation and the center to share their information and data and to monitor and settle accounts simultaneously.

The federation, for example, can control and analyze treatment information from the hospitals covered by the social medical insurance system, so it can give aid to employees suffering from illnesses, especially serious illnesses, in a timely manner.

The platform also provides a new service of "double insurance" for hospitalization and severe diseases to better benefit employees.

The federation or trade unions of companies will pay 10 yuan ($1.54) for the service for each of employee who is part of the worker medical insurance program, which is voluntary and costs 50 yuan annually.

With the double medical insurance, employees can receive medical compensation from the federation that accounts for 40 to 60 percent of out-of-pocket expenses to a maximum of 29,000 yuan.

By the end of September, nearly 30,000 local employees were enrolled in the double medical insurance system.

Every month, about 100 employees in Anji need to be hospitalized for treatment but few know that part of their medical costs can be reimbursed by the federation after they receive compensation from the social medical insurance. The federation is informing trade unions and employees of this coverage by calling or sending messages.

Xu Peiqi, a worker at a local food company, for example, did not know the company provided medical insurance for workers and also didn't know he could get help from the federation, and thus qualified to access the double insurance. The federation called Xu and told him he could receive the combined medical compensation and an allowance of nearly 2,500 yuan for hospitalization, about 50 percent of his out-of-pocket expenses.

The federation informed 37 employees of such benefits within 10 days of the new platform being launched.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/01/2016 page12)