Shenzhen citizens with diabetes are benefiting from a huge drop in medical expenses thanks to the centralized procurement of diabetes medications and the outpatient medication security mechanism for hypertension and diabetes, the Daily Sunshine reported.
Wang, a diabetic living in Luohu District, only pays 10.26 yuan (US$1.55) from his personal medical insurance account for three boxes of Acarbose oral tablets plus the consultation fee at a local community health center each month.
“Now I hardly feel the impact of this disease on my life and my finances,” Wang, 45, said.
The price of Acarbose oral tablets has been reduced from more than 60 yuan a box to a little more than 5 yuan a box since the implementation of centralized procurement, according to Wu Xiaobing, a specialist in obesity and metabolic disorders with Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control and Prevention.
Wang has joined the first category of the city’s health insurance and signed a family doctor with a local community health center. In Wang’s case, the medical insurance pooling fund would pay 80 percent of the medical expenses when he gets the medicine.
The calculation is as follows: three boxes of Acarbose oral tablets would originally cost 16.26 yuan, but under the relevant policies, 80 percent of the cost of the drug, which amounts to 13 yuan, would be paid by the medical insurance pooling fund.
As for the 10-yuan consultation fee at the community health center, 3 yuan would be paid by the pooling fund and the rest would be deducted from Wang’s personal medical insurance account.
To tally it all up, Wang only pays 10.26 yuan from his medical insurance account for his monthly diabetes medications.
“As I take medicine on time, eat reasonably according to doctor’s advice and strengthen exercise, this disease has basically no impact on my life,” said Wang.
Wu reminds citizens who meet one of the high-risk factors, such as over 40 years old, overweight, obese or having a family history of diabetes, should go to the community health center or hospital for an examination, and must not avoid medical treatment.
According to statistics, Shenzhen has seen some 190,000 diabetics register at community health centers.
People who suspect that they may have diabetes can go to the nearest community health center for blood glucose screening.
The elderly aged 65 and above can go to the community health center for free physical examinations.