China's basic medical insurance fund (including maternity insurance) spent CNY1.75tn ($259.5bn) in the first nine months of 2026, according to data released by National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA).
According to a news report by China News Service, the NHSA data released on 21 October 2026 revealed that the total revenue garnered by China's basic medical insurance (including maternity insurance) pooled fund reached CNY2.30tn in the first nine months (January to September) of 2026.
The NHSA data reports that in terms of revenue for the basic medical insurance (including maternity insurance) pooled fund, the employee basic medical insurance (including maternity insurance) pooled fund generated CNY1.45tn and the urban and rural resident basic medical insurance pooled fund generated CNY855.47bn.
In the first nine months of 2026, expenditures from the employee basic medical insurance (including maternity insurance) pooled fund totalled CNY1.004428tn, of which CNY101.010bn was spent on maternity insurance benefits; expenditures from the urban and rural resident basic medical insurance pooled fund totalled CNY747.091bn.
The state-backed programme maintains an overall participation rate of approximately 95%, covering over 1.33bn people. The growth of the fund in 2026 was largely driven by cities lifting household registration restrictions, enabling flexible and migrant workers to easily enrol where they currently reside.
During 2026 the NHSA standardised funding amounts for 158 common ailments across all hospital tiers. This shift aims to incentivise patients to use local community clinics rather than overcrowding top-tier metropolitan medical centres.