For serious illness, use medical insurance, critical-illness insurance, medical assistance, and cross-region registration first — do not touch online loans

The order is fixed: before cross-province hospitalization, register in the “National Healthcare Security Administration” official account; settle directly at discharge without advancing the full bill first. If after reimbursement you still cannot pay, apply for medical assistance at the township or subdistrict. If employed, you have a medical treatment period of 3 to 24 months by length of service; the company cannot dismiss you during that time. Do not touch online loans or high-interest private borrowing.

Cost

No money spent. The order is fixed; go step by step. First, before cross-province hospitalization, register through the “National Cross-Region Medical Care Filing” mini-program in the “National Healthcare Security Administration” WeChat official account. Second, settle directly at discharge. Third, if what you still owe after reimbursement is too heavy, apply for medical assistance at the township government or subdistrict office. Fourth, if still employed, take sick leave for the medical treatment period — the time you stop work for illness and cannot be dismissed; work injuries go through work-injury insurance. Fifth, if you cannot repay a credit card, proactively negotiate installment plans with the bank. Sixth, if that is still not enough, raise funds on a personal assistance platform designated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Main materials are the diagnosis certificate, itemized costs, and settlement sheet; 2 to 4 trips. The hard part is running procedures while you are ill.

Benefit

The state bundles basic medical insurance, critical-illness insurance, and medical assistance as the “triple system,” each layer catching what the one above leaves. For dibao recipients and extremely poor persons, qualifying medical costs are assisted at no less than 70%. Patients with serious illness who were not poor but became poor from treatment may apply for further assistance. If you registered before cross-province hospitalization, you can settle directly at discharge without advancing the full bill and returning to the insured place to claim. Stopping work for illness has a medical treatment period of 3 to 24 months, set by length of service. During that time the company may not end the labor contract, and sick-leave pay may not be below 80% of the local minimum wage. Injured workers have a work-stoppage with pay period — time off to recover — with original wages and benefits paid monthly by the employer, generally no more than 12 months. If credit-card debt exceeds repayment capacity but you are still willing to repay, you may negotiate a personalized installment plan with the bank for up to 5 years. Once the agreement is signed, the bank must stop collection. Personal assistance platforms that raise money online for someone must be designated by the civil affairs department under the State Council. Platforms must verify that the appeal is true. Donated money may only be paid to the person seeking help, or to an account they provide (nationwide)

Notes

How large a share medical assistance reimburses, and the yearly cap, are set by the place where you are insured. The medical treatment period has six tiers, based on total years worked and years at this employer. Once the medical treatment period ends, the company may lawfully end the contract — know which tier you are in early. People receiving emergency rescue are also on the list that needs registration. The medical insurance bureau page does not say whether emergencies count as automatic registration or can be made up afterward; call the insured place. Do not touch online loans or high-interest private borrowing. Courts only protect up to 4 times the one-year LPR (see item 15 on not borrowing usury). Amounts above that line are unprotected, but the principal is still owed. Lying in a hospital bed, you have no energy for that kind of lawsuit. Acute severe injury or illness is different: call 120 even without money; hospitals may not refuse, shift, or delay treatment. Emergency fees for that stretch are paid by the disease emergency assistance fund — see Section 24, item 8 (emergency care must treat first). The original page of (劳部发〔1995〕309号) would not open on the ministry site; content is from a provincial human resources and social security republication. How to negotiate credit-card installments with a bank when you cannot repay — see item 23 (already cannot repay credit cards or online loans).

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