Colleen I helped my uncle, who has been suffering from type 2 diabetes for nearly 10 years, apply for a chronic disease card. The most intuitive feeling is that the biggest use of this card is to reduce the financial burden on chronically ill families who need medication and follow-up visits all year round.
Before my uncle applied for the card, he would take insulin and hypoglycemic drugs every month, and have his glycosylated hemoglobin and liver and kidney function checked every quarter. If he went to a general outpatient clinic, he would have to pay more than 400 out-of-pocket every month after being reimbursed by the medical insurance. If he had a cold, fever, or blood sugar fluctuations, he would have to undergo additional tests, which would cost even more. After getting the card last year, he went through the exclusive outpatient reimbursement channel for chronic diseases. For the same medication and examination, after deducting the annual deductible of more than 100 yuan, his employee medical insurance can reimburse 85%. Now he pays less than 100 yuan per month. He saved nearly 5,000 yuan last year, which happened to be a more accurate home blood glucose meter for him.
Don’t think that saving money is the only real thing. Anyone who often goes to the hospital to prescribe medicine knows that this card can also save a lot of time. Nowadays, most public hospitals have opened special windows for prescribing medicines for chronic diseases. There is no need to queue up with ordinary patients who need first-time consultations or complex examinations. Last month, I accompanied my uncle to prescribe three months' worth of medicines. The whole process of registering, paying, and picking up medicines only took 12 minutes. In the past, if I had to wait in the general internal medicine clinic, I would have to wait at least an hour. Moreover, many places now allow patients with chronic diseases to be prescribed common medicines for one to three months at a time, without having to go to the hospital every half a month. For elderly patients with poor legs and feet, this really saves them a lot of errands.
Of course, I often hear people around me complain about the "imperfection" of this card. After all, the chronic disease coverage catalogs vary greatly from place to place. Some relatively rare chronic diseases, such as pulmonary hypertension and Crohn's disease, are not included in the coverage in some third- and fourth-tier cities. In some places, applications require medical records for more than two consecutive years. Patients who have just been diagnosed are temporarily unable to enjoy benefits. Some people even think that the annual qualification review is too troublesome and requires a lot of materials to be submitted. These are areas where medical insurance departments in various places are still gradually adjusting and optimizing.
To put it bluntly, the chronic disease card is like a "medical treatment preferential card" tailor-made for families who have been dealing with chronic diseases for a long time. Although it is not omnipotent and cannot cover all medication needs, it can cover most of the cost of regular medication follow-up visits. If there are qualified chronic disease patients in the family, it is really recommended to go to the community health service center or the local medical insurance bureau as soon as possible to ask about the application rules, which can save a lot of worry.
