Current status of medical reimbursement for chronic hepatitis B and related countermeasures: an investigation in 333 prefecture-level cities

An investigation of the special policies for chronic diseases in medical insurance for urban employees and residents has been conducted in 333 prefecture-level cities in China, and the results showed that 78% of all cities included chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) in medical reimbursement for urban employees and 57% included CHB in medical reimbursement for urban residents. However, there are still some issues to be resolved, such as inconsistent descriptions of the diagnosis of CHB-related diseases, inconsistent diagnostic criteria, lack of standardization of reimbursement process, infringement of patient privacy, and inadequate dose prescribed for CHB patients in the outpatient service. Therefore, we suggested that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security should introduce unified policies to include CHB in medical reimbursement, unify disease name and diagnostic criteria, standardize the reimbursement process for CHB, and increase the prescribed dose.