A person in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province shows a COVID-19 antigen test at a local pharmacy on March 17, 2022. Photo: VCG

China moves to temporarily include coronavirus antigen detection reagents and relevant tests into the country's provincial health insurance system, as the country takes action to improve the health security policies and measures for epidemic prevention and control amid a wave of COVID-19. 

According to a notice issued on Monday by the National Healthcare Security Administration, related expenses made at specific local medical institutions should be paid according to the region's existing health insurance regulations, while the expenses of antigen detection reagents sold at specific retail pharmacy stores can be paid through personal accounts under the health insurance system. 

This would largely decrease the amount of money people have to pay for those services. Prices recorded on AliHealth's online pharmacy store showed that a standard package of coronavirus antigen test (for 10 tests) currently costs more than 200 yuan ($31). 

According to the notice, China's provincial health security departments should continue to standardize and perfect the pricing policies for coronavirus antigen detection services provided by public medical institutions. 

It also noted that the new coronavirus drug that has been accepted into the country's latest COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment protocol should be included in the payment scope of local health insurance funds by the provincial health security departments. 

Like nucleic acid tests, coronavirus antigen tests help determine whether a patient is currently infected with COVID-19 virus. They are often used in the early stage (within seven days) of the symptomatic COVID infection, and show results in about 15 minutes. 

China already included coronavirus nucleic acid tests into health insurance in 2020. 

As of Monday, China had 266,482 confirmed coronavirus cases.