BEIJING — Chinese people covered by medical insurance but seeking treatment not in places where their accounts are registered had 1.32 million bills settled on-the-spot last year, thanks to a policy of interprovincial settlement.

The number was 6.3 times the 2017 figure, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration on July 3.

China has vowed to push for the implementation of interprovincial on-the-spot settlement of medical bills, which enables patients to use their medical insurance cards for medical treatment in designated hospitals and settle the bills straight away despite the locality.

The implementation of the policy is aimed at providing convenience particularly for the migrant population and for elderly people who have relocated.

By the end of 2018, a total of 15,000 designated hospitals nationwide were available for on-the-spot settlement.

The country will also beef up policy support for private hospitals and equally treat them with public ones in terms of interprovincial on-the-spot settlement of medical bills through basic medical insurance accounts.