Can I use my medical insurance card to buy medicine in different places?

You can swipe your medical insurance card to buy medicine in different places.

Pharmacies in the online direct settlement list of medical insurance personal accounts can buy medicines by swiping their cards in different places, but generally only in different places in the province. The administrative department of social insurance and the administrative department of health shall establish a settlement system for medical expenses in different places to facilitate the insured to enjoy the basic medical insurance benefits. Medical insurance cards can be used to buy medicines in different places, but they are usually only used in different places in the province. At present, it has not been used across provinces and cities. When you need to use the medical insurance card to buy medicine in different places, you'd better go to the pharmacy first. The medical insurance card can be used for direct settlement, which is limited to the hospitalization expenses incurred by designated medical institutions connected to other provinces and cities.

In addition, the first generation medical insurance card was a single-function magnetic stripe card issued by the social security agency at that time, which could not be used across the overall planning area. The second-generation and above medical insurance cards are dual-account chip cards jointly issued by social security and banks, which can be used across regions. In networked hospitals, even in-patient and out-patient treatment, it can be used throughout the country.

The difference between medical insurance card and social security card is as follows:

1, with different concepts. Social security card, referred to as social security card, is an integrated circuit card issued by local human resources and social security departments for various business fields of human resources and social security. Medical insurance card is a special card for personal account of medical insurance, which takes personal ID card as the identification code and stores detailed information such as personal ID card number, name, gender, payment, account fund consumption, etc.

2. Different functions. Social security card not only has the function of medical insurance card, but also is an important voucher for handling various social security businesses, such as receiving unemployment benefits. The medical insurance card is limited to the medical insurance function and can only be used to enjoy medical insurance benefits;

3. The issuing place is different. The medical insurance card shall be borne by the local designated agent bank. Social security cards are issued to the society by local human resources and social security departments;

4. The safety performance is different. The social security card adopts a national unified three-layer key management system, and its security and reliability have passed the national acceptance, which can really make the social security card a "safety card" and a "rest assured card" for the insured, and also lay a good foundation for realizing cross-provincial nationwide use in the future. There is no such management system for medical insurance card, and the safety factor is low;

5. Social security cards are more widely used. Social security cards will be widely used in human resources and social security businesses, and can be used as financial debit cards. The medical insurance card is only used as a medical insurance settlement voucher;

6. Security is different. The performance of social security card is more stable. Because the social security card adopts integrated circuit chip, its performance is more stable, not easy to be damaged and safer than the medical insurance card adopting magnetic stripe medium.

To sum up, residents' medical insurance cards do not have personal accounts, and medical treatment in different places and special clinics must be filed. Medical expenses should be paid out first and then reimbursed at the insured place. Urban and rural residents can't take the residents' medical insurance card to buy medicine in different places.

Legal basis:

Article 31 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Social Insurance Law

According to the needs of management services, social insurance agencies can sign service agreements with medical institutions and pharmaceutical business units to standardize medical service behavior. Medical institutions shall provide reasonable and necessary medical services for the insured.