The Yangtze River Delta integration demonstration zone, located along the borders between Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, recently started to green-light the direct, interprovincial use of social security cards in any designated hospital in the zone.

A medically insured citizen in any of the zone's three sections (Jiashan county in Zhejiang, Qingpu district in Shanghai, and Wujiang district in Suzhou, Jiangsu) can now swipe their social security cards to pay medical fees in any designated hospital in the zone without having to go through the previously required registration process.

Outpatient service payment systems for 51 designated hospitals in Jiashan county and Qingpu district have already been updated as part of the new measure. Hospitals in Wujiang district are currently testing out the new system.

Zhao Mei swiped her Qingpu-issued social security card at Jiashan No. 1 People's Hospital on Aug 20. "Previously, I had to register in Shanghai's Qingpu distict before using my card at hospitals in Zhejiang's Jiashan county. Now I can just swipe the card without going through the administrative procedures," Zhao said.

Zhao was born and raised in Jiashan and works in Qingpu. She holds a Qingpu social security card. There are many people like her who often have to travel between different parts of the zone and must deal with inconvenient medical services.

"The new policy has also raised the reimbursement ratio for cross-provincial medical treatment. For example, a Qingpu hospital patient who is medically insured in Jiashan is now exempt from interprovincial charges and has a higher proportion of their medical fees paid for by medical insurance," said Zou Ping, director of the medical insurance service center at the Jiashan healthcare security bureau.