Beijing to cover IVF, fertility treatments to boost China's birth rate

China’s capital Beijing will extend medical insurance coverage to a slew of assisted reproduction services as the country tries to avert a demographic crisis that threatens long-term consequences for the economy. 
 

Starting July 1, services ranging from sperm optimisation to in-vitro fertilisation will be reimbursed in 16 medical facilities, CCTV reported, citing the Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau. The capital is the first major city in China to extend insurance coverage. 

The move will reduce the often substantial financial burden of the services and is part of a broader plan to boost the national birth rate after China saw its population shrink for the first time in six decades. 
 

Officials at the National Healthcare Security Administration, which oversees the $600 billion state medical insurance fund that covers over 95 per cent of China’s 1.4 billion people, have said local governments must study whether extending 

coverage will be feasible for local insurance funds, which raise money from local employee contributions. 
 

The province of Henan said that it is not yet capable of extending coverage to such assisted services.