IVF Photo: VCG

China has accelerated efforts to expand medical insurance coverage for assisted reproductive technology services, with more than 20 provincial-level regions officially including these services in their medical insurance coverage, as part of a series of measures to encourage fertility and support long-term balanced population development.

The provincial-level regions, including South China's Guangdong Province and Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, have officially made announcements to begin implementing the relevant policies from October this year. 

For instance, a total of 13 therapeutic assisted reproductive medical services, including "sperm selection treatment" and "egg retrieval surgery," have been included in the medical insurance coverage in Southwest China's Chongqing. The policy will come into effect on January 1, 2025, according to the Chongqing healthcare security authority.

Taking the data from a hospital from Guangdong as an example, the prices for most assisted reproductive technology services decreased after the relevant services were included into the medical insurance coverage. The cost of artificial insemination has fallen by around 50 percent, while fees for procedures like embryo transfer have seen an average decline of over 15 percent, according to the Guangdong healthcare security authority.

More couples are facing the challenges of infertility in modern society due to multiple factors such as a fast-paced lifestyle, and delayed marriage and childbearing age, Jiang Quanbao, a professor from the Institute for Population and Development Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

China has introduced the supportive measures aimed at "promoting long-term balanced population development," including medical insurance coverage for assisted reproduction technologies to assist families facing challenges in having children, to alleviate the economic burden they face, said Jiang.

China on Monday introduced a series of new birth support policies. Among the policies, assisted reproductive technology services will be added to the list of services that qualify for medical insurance reimbursement, according to a government document.

Since July 2023, some regions such as Beijing and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have gradually included the relevant assisted reproductive technology services in their medical insurance reimbursement. Soon after, other regions actively followed suit, according to National Healthcare Security Administration.

Currently, there are still a few provincial-level regions that have not officially included assisted reproductive technology in their medical insurance including Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Southwest China's Guizhou Province and North China's Tianjin. 

Some of them, such as Heilongjiang and Tianjin, have published relevant drafts for public consultation and have completed the process of soliciting opinions from the public, according to the local healthcare security authorities.