Ge Dongju receives deep brain stimulation surgery on Thursday at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Seventy-two-year-old Ge Dongju was discharged from Tongji Hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province on Friday after receiving a deep brain stimulation surgery to treat Parkinson's disease. She became the first patient to complete the reimbursement settlement after Hubei added the deep brain stimulation system to the basic medical insurance payment on Tuesday.

The newly covered devices include the deep brain stimulator, intracranial nerve stimulation electrodes, and electrode leads. The update means that deep brain stimulation therapy, a representative application of cutting-edge brain-computer interface technology, now enjoys full medical insurance support in Hubei, spanning preoperative assessment, surgical implantation, and postoperative rehabilitation, according to the Healthcare Security Administration of Hubei Province.

Zhao Changchun receives deep brain stimulation surgery on Thursday at Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Ge has had Parkinson's disease for seven years. Under the previous policy, she would have paid nearly 250,000 yuan (roughly $37,500), but now only has to pay about 80,000 yuan.

Zhao Changchun, 74, who suffered from muscle stiffness for years, also benefited from the new policy. His family hesitated about the surgery because of high costs, but only ended up paying around 30 percent of the fee.

"Previously, the cost of the devices alone for a DBS procedure deterred many families," said Jiang Xiaobing, a neurosurgery expert at the university's Union Hospital.

"With the consumables now eligible for medical insurance reimbursement, alongside coverage for surgical services, patients' out-of-pocket costs will drop substantially. This once unattainable cutting-edge therapy is now accessible to ordinary residents," Jiang added.

Jiang Wei, chief physician of the department of neurosurgery at Tongji Hospital, told web outlet chinanews that after surgery, most patients see improvements in tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia. In the past, however, some patients weighed the costs repeatedly and only opted for the operation when their condition had dramatically worsened.

China has more than 5 million patients with Parkinson's disease. An estimated 43.14 percent of the world's Parkinson's patients are in China, and deaths from the disease account for approximately 23.71 percent of the global total, according to a report compiled under the leadership of Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in 2025.