In some places, the regulations on setting thresholds for receiving maternity insurance have been suspended

Recently, Liang Hongxia, associate professor of the School of Administrative Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, received a phone call from the staff of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and conducted oral communication
on the previous review suggestions she had put forward on local regulations setting preconditions for applying for maternity insurance treatment and improperly restricting women's rights in childbirth 。 In the communication, it is pointed out that with the continuous adjustment of the national birth policy, the restrictive provisions made by some regulations, rules and normative documents on the enjoyment of birth insurance benefits have not met the requirements of the Party Central Committee on optimizing the decision-making and deployment of the birth policy and the requirements of the state to promote the reform of the active birth policy and improve the birth insurance payment system, which is not fully consistent
with the spirit of the relevant provisions of the Constitution and laws.
In recent years, many experts, scholars and citizens have put forward review suggestions on the provisions of some local laws and regulations and rules requiring the provision of "marriage certificates" and "birth service certificates" and other supporting materials to apply for maternity insurance benefits, believing that the relevant provisions are not in line with the spirit of the Party Central Committee's decision-making deployment and the direction of major national reforms, and are inconsistent with the spirit of the relevant provisions of higher-level laws, and suggest review and correction
。 "Maternity insurance is a social policy of the state to give certain living security and material assistance to employees during pregnancy and childbirth when they lose or temporarily lose their ability to work and work opportunities, and share the cost of childbirth, which reflects the state's emphasis on and guarantee
the rights to life, body, health and labor of female employees who give birth.
" Liang Ying, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that the Constitution and laws advocate marriage and childbearing of appropriate age, and also guarantee that women have the right to
receive material help from the state and society in the case of childbirth.
At the same time, under the background of the national adjustment of the family planning policy, expanding the coverage of national maternity insurance is conducive to creating a more harmonious and friendly social environment, which is consistent
with the spirit of the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the orientation of the core values of socialism.
The Legislative Affairs Commission has sent a letter asking relevant parties to promptly adjust and improve relevant regulations and eliminate the improper restrictions on
enjoying maternity insurance benefits.
It is worth noting that this review case is also another classic case
in recent years in which the Legislative Affairs Commission has implemented the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee on optimizing the birth policy through the filing and review system and actively responded to the major adjustments of the national population development policy.
Previously, the Legislative Affairs Commission had called for a halt to local regulations on "dismissal after birth" and "expulsion after birth"
.
In 2021, Liang Hongxia paid attention to a case
of unmarried mothers receiving maternity insurance benefits when attending an academic conference.
Liang Hongxia's research areas are constitutional law, human rights law, and she is a woman, which makes her particularly concerned about
the equal legal protection of women's rights.
So why are some women hindered from receiving maternity insurance benefits? Liang Hongxia began to consult laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, rules, etc.
, and studied a number of similar cases
.
She found that the current national laws do not set obstacles to women who give birth to maternity insurance, and there is no direct prohibition clause in local regulations, but in some areas, local regulations and rules list "marriage licenses" as a necessary precondition for
giving birth insurance benefits.
This means that only married women can enjoy maternity insurance benefits
.
Analyzing the reasons, Liang Hongxia believes that it is mainly because all localities generally link the implementation of the basic national policy of family planning with birth insurance, and the function of birth insurance is not only positioned to protect the rights and interests of pregnant women and their fetuses, but also has the function
of realizing family planning.
Because the relevant birth protection measures stipulated in the Population and Family Planning Law are aimed at husband and wife, some women do not have the legal subject qualifications of the Population and Family Planning Law, and the number of children born is legally difficult to determine, which is not conducive to the implementation of the family planning policy, so some places have imposed certain restrictions
on the implementation of the birth insurance system.
"The original intention of birth insurance is to protect births, and all women who give birth should be equally protected
.
" Liang Hongxia held that China's Constitution stipulates that all citizens are equal
before the law.
With regard to maternity insurance, there is no distinction between married and unmarried women in the Labour Code, the Social Insurance Act, the Women's Rights and Interests Act
, and other laws.
In some places, the requirement to provide a birth certificate or marriage certificate in order to receive birth insurance does not comply with the principle of equal protection, and at the same time, birth insurance is particularly important
for the economic protection of women and fetuses.
As a result, she raised a motion
to correct the provisions in local normative documents that restrict some women's enjoyment of maternity insurance benefits by filing a filing review.
In her view, the legislative removal of these restrictions was the most fundamental measure
.
In May 2022, Liang Hongxia submitted a review proposal to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, arguing that local regulations and other normative documents that regard marriage as a precondition for applying for birth insurance are unduly limited to the right of women who give birth to birth insurance, do not conform to the principle of equal protection, are inconsistent with the spirit of the relevant provisions of the higher-level law, and should be amended
.
In recent years, with the continuous changes in China's demographic situation, the national fertility policy has been adjusted
many times.
In December 2015, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Decision on Implementing the Comprehensive Two-Child Policy and Reforming and Improving the Management of Family Planning Services, and began to implement the comprehensive two-child policy
.
In June 2021, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Optimizing the Fertility Policy and Promoting the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population, implementing the three-child birth policy and supporting measures, and further clarifying that "the cancellation of social support fees, the cleaning up and abolition of relevant penalties, and the comprehensive decoupling of household registration, enrollment, and employment with personal fertility"
。 On August 16, 2022, the National Health Commission and 17 other departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Active Birth Support Measures", proposing that "the state uniformly regulates and formulates and improves the payment policy of birth insurance birth allowances, strengthens the role of birth insurance in ensuring the maternity medical expenses and birth allowance treatment of insured female employees, and ensures the safety of the birth insurance fund" and "where conditions permit, flexible employment personnel participating in the basic medical insurance of employees can explore the synchronous participation of birth insurance"
。 In accordance with the spirit of the central authorities, relevant departments have actively promoted the decoupling
of maternity insurance for employees from the national birth policy.
The "Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Combined Implementation of Maternity Insurance and Basic Medical Insurance for Employees" issued by the State Council in 2019 and the "List of Government Service Matters Handled by National Medical Security" issued by the National Medical Security Bureau in 2020 clearly stipulate that the approval and payment of maternity insurance treatment only requires the provision of medical insurance electronic vouchers or valid identity documents or social security cards, hospital fee bills, fee lists, diagnostic certificates (or medical record information), and does not require "marriage certificates" and "birth service certificates".
and other related materials
.
Not long ago, in response to the threshold and controversy of birth insurance, Liu Juan, deputy director of the Department of Treatment and Security of the National Medical Insurance Bureau, publicly responded at the press conference of the National Health and Health Commission that regarding the threshold for receiving birth allowances, some places may have requirements for providing materials related to birth services, but as long as the payment responsibility of birth insurance is fulfilled, there is no threshold for the enjoyment of treatment at the national level, and on the list of handling services, the relevant materials required to enjoy birth insurance birth allowances do not need a "marriage certificate"
。 Re-evaluation of the policy function of defining the birth insurance system "In an industrialized society, the cost of medical care and the cost of occupation from childbirth is very high
.
" Lou Yu, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out that birth insurance bears the function
of solving the medical expenses of female employees and the compensation of wage loss during leave.
The purpose of establishing birth insurance is to solve the worries
of employees of the right age through socialized financing means.
According to Lou Yu, China's birth insurance system began with the Labor Insurance Regulations of the People's Republic of China promulgated in 1951, but it was subject to the level of economic and social development at that time, and the treatment of birth insurance was low
.
In 1994, the former Ministry of Labor issued the "Trial Measures for Maternity Insurance for Employees of Enterprises", and since then, a maternity insurance system
featuring unilateral payment by enterprises, overall planning at the prefectural and municipal levels, and the combination of maternity allowances and medical expenses has been gradually established.
In 2010, the Social Insurance Law formally established the legal status
of the maternity insurance system in China's social insurance system.
By the end of 2019, all regions in China have realized the merger of
maternity insurance and basic medical insurance for employees.
"Family planning is China's basic national policy, and the arrangement of the maternity insurance system cannot fail to take into account the requirements of
family planning.
" Lou Yu believes that whether it is stipulated that only employees who have married children can obtain the treatment of birth insurance, or that male spouses who receive the "One-Child Preferential Treatment Certificate" can enjoy maternity leave, these structural systems linked to the national policy of family planning all play a role in
policy incentives and guidance.
This institutional arrangement has a specific rationality
in a specific historical period.
Lou Yu pointed out that under the background that China is about to enter negative population growth, it is necessary to build a set of fertility-friendly systems
.
Among them, maternity insurance is an important part, and its policy function should be re-evaluated and redefined
.
"The expansion of the expenditure of the maternity insurance fund may have little effect on alleviating population pressure, and its function of equal rights protection may be more prominent
.
" The reform of the maternity insurance system mainly reflects the state and society's concern for birthEncouragement and advocacy
of behavior.
In Lou Yu's view, at present, all regions will include the out-of-wedlock birth expenses and maternity leave wages of insured employees in the scope of payment of the fund, and include flexible employment personnel in the scope of insurance, these measures are in line with the development of the times and should be promoted
.
Regulations on healthy women Restricting some women who give birth to childbirth insurance raises questions There is no threshold hospital at the national level in terms of treatment Re-evaluate and define the policy function of the birth insurance system