In order to better protect the rights and interests of employees and improve the convenience of work-related injury insurance services, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Health Commission recently issued a notice to deploy the pilot work of direct settlement of work-related injury insurance for cross provincial and cross regional medical treatment. The notice requires that on April 1st, some provinces and the human resources and social security departments of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps will choose to launch pilot projects in certain cities. Personnel from pilot cities can directly settle the medical expenses for cross provincial and cross regional hospitalization and work-related injuries, hospitalization and work-related injury rehabilitation expenses, and auxiliary equipment configuration expenses with social security cards. The person in charge of the Work Injury Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security introduced that the pilot areas adhere to the principle of gradual progress, adhere to the inclusion of hospitalization expenses first, start with long-term living (working) in other places and personnel who are transferred to other places for medical treatment, give priority to connecting areas with concentrated medical treatment in other places, and connect the information systems of agreement institutions one by one online, steadily and orderly promoting direct settlement work. The person in charge stated that workers with work-related injuries who participate in work-related injury insurance and have completed work-related injury identification, work-related injury recurrence confirmation, work-related injury rehabilitation confirmation, or auxiliary equipment configuration confirmation, who reside in a different location for a long time, work permanently in a different location, and transfer to another hospital, can apply for direct settlement of work-related injury medical expenses, inpatient work-related injury rehabilitation expenses, and auxiliary equipment configuration expenses for medical treatment in a different province and another location. Before seeking medical treatment in another province, work-related injured employees should file a record with the local insurance agency and obtain approval after review. The validity period of filing for long-term residence (work) work-related injuries in other places and for cross provincial referral work-related injuries shall be uniformly determined by the participating provinces. Provinces participating in insurance can reasonably set a time limit for changing or canceling registration, which should not exceed 6 months in principle. The notice clearly states that the hospitalization meal allowance and transportation and accommodation expenses required for medical treatment outside the designated area due to transfer to another place are not included in the direct settlement scope of cross provincial and cross regional medical treatment, and will be reviewed and reimbursed by the insurance agency in accordance with the policies of the insured place. As of the end of 2023, the number of participants in basic work-related injury insurance in China was 302 million, an increase of 10.54 million compared to the same period last year. (Lai Xin She)