In the era of traceability, please pay attention to six things and six things when purchasing medicines in medical insurance:

First, you need to have code. It is strongly recommended that medical insurance drug purchasers only buy medicines with traceability codes on the packaging, do not buy medicines without traceability codes, and do not buy medicines with traceability codes torn off or damaged . The traceability code is the only ID card of this small box of medicine. The traceability code number of this small box of medicine is different from the traceability code of other medicines, including the same brand and specifications. Please note that the only evidence to determine the identity of this small box of medicine is the traceability code printed on the small box of medicine, rather than the drug purchase invoice or receipt, or WeChat Alipay payment record. From now until the end of this year, you may still encounter some legal and compliant drugs in pharmacies that do not have traceability codes, but please know that there are currently 700,000 pharmacies in China, and more than 400,000 designated pharmacies in medical insurance. There are countless medical insurance drugs with traceability codes, with sales of nearly 70 billion boxes every year. There are often many types of drugs with the same efficacy. Do you have to buy this type of drug without traceability codes in this pharmacy? According to the document, starting from January 1, 2026, all drugs sold must be fully covered by traceability codes. This means that from next year, it is recommended that you carefully view drugs without traceability codes as if they were looking at alien creatures, but stay away from them.

It should be noted here that there are currently no traceability codes required for the medicines, Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese herbal granules taken in hospital. The same below.

Second, scan the code. When checking the drug payment, you should watch the drug salesperson scan the trace code of the small box of medicine, and do not let him or her scan the trace code of other medicines. Once the traceability code is sold by scanning the code, this data will enter the database of the National Health Insurance Administration. When the drug salesperson sells this box of medicine, he should scan the traceability code of the box of medicine. If he deliberately scans the traceability code of other medicines, or deliberately does not scan the traceability code, it means that the box of medicine sold to you may have a problem and is trying to use other traceability codes to cover it up, or conceal the traces of secondary sales. Some illegal and irregular pharmacies and clinics often use this method to exchange or sell back-drained medicines. Sometimes, they scan the drug code and give rice or shampoo. When they are about to sell this box of medicine, if the customer is watching it closely, they can only scan the codes of other medicines to replace them or not scan the traceability code.

Third, please make a small receipt. We must insist on requesting receipts and not give up the possible compensation of thousands of yuan. Before the end of this year, after purchasing medicine, after requesting a receipt, please take the time to mark the traceability code on the medicine box on the corresponding drug name on the receipt, and then take a photo with your mobile phone to keep it in order to prevent the thermal paper of the receipt from decolorizing for a long time. Starting from 2026, the state requires that the traceability code be marked on the receipt or invoice for selling medicines, so you can reduce the step of copying numbers, but it is still highly recommended to take photos and retain them. Why keep a small ticket number? In order to retain evidence and protect your legitimate rights and interests when problems are found in the next steps.

Fourth, verify the code. You should develop good habits of verifying codes and not be a buyer of return drugs.

Five must make a claim. If you find that you are selling back medicine to yourself, you must resolutely claim compensation and protect your legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law. Here are four possible situations that may occur after scanning the drug traceability code.

Situation 1: "The product sales information is not found", it is recommended to wait two days to scan the code again. If it has not appeared yet, it means that the sales agency has not scanned the traceability code on the box of drugs, and can report it to the sales agency or relevant departments.

Situation 2: "There is only one sales information found". If it is indeed purchased by me, it means that the drug is legal and compliant.

Situation 3: "There is only one sales information inquired". If it is not purchased by me, it means that the drug has been sold before. It is very likely to be a "return drug", "spraying medicine" or fake drug. Consumers can report it and claim compensation from the sales agency.

Situation 4: "Sales information of 2 or more times have been found", which means that the drug has been sold before and is very likely to be "return drugs", "spraying and changing drugs" or fake drugs. Consumers can report and claim compensation from the sales agency.

It should be noted that if you use software or APP other than the medical insurance department to scan the drug traceability code, the information obtained is not the medical insurance sales settlement information of the drug, and it is not applicable to the above methods and conclusions.

Six, you must destroy the code. After taking the medicine, please properly dispose of the empty medicine box. It is recommended that you tear the medicine box open, especially to ensure that the traceability code on the empty medicine box is to prevent intentional criminals from continuing to steal the empty medicine box and traceability code. If you have time, you can peel off each pill and throw it to the designated hazardous waste collection place if you have time. Never sell your medicine boxes or drugs to drug dealers. Otherwise, on the one hand, the drugs sold will cause harm to others after being illegally resold, and you and your family may also buy "return drugs", "change medicines" or fake drugs; on the other hand, when the drugs you sell are illegally resold, other drug buyers can also expose your drug sales behavior to broad daylight by scanning the drug traceability code, which will have a huge adverse impact on your medical insurance benefits. In serious cases, it may also be suspected of illegal crimes, which will not be worth the loss.

Here, we also remind all friends who have seen this article that for the sake of the health of you and your family and to safeguard your legitimate rights and interests, please forward this article to your "family home" family group in time so that your family can also know the "six and six don'ts" of medical insurance purchase medicines . If your family doesn’t know how to use a smartphone, you can call and tell your family to remember and use the specific practice of “six and six don’t” when purchasing medicinal medicines . Let us act together to maintain the safety of medication for you, your family, and the whole society.

[Editor in charge: Dong Rui PSY288]