BEIJING -- More than 7.24 million Chinese people benefitted from the direct settlement of trans-provincial medical expenses in 2020, according to a report issued by the National Healthcare Security Administration.

The direct settlement of trans-provincial medical expenses allows any patient enrolled in the public medical insurance system to be reimbursed for medical and inpatient expenses, no matter which province they are treated in. The policy was put into effect in January 2017.

The public medical insurance fund spent 103.8 billion yuan (about 15.9 billion U.S. dollars) on the direct settlement of trans-provincial medical expenses in 2020, said the report.

As of the end of 2020, China had 44,400 designated hospitals and medical institutions nationwide covered under the direct settlement policy, an increase of 16,800, or 60 percent, over the 2019 figure, it added.