By Fineline Cube 
The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) issued a notification this week to refine its credit evaluation mechanism for pharmaceutical pricing and procurement. The new rules aim to reinforce market-driven price formation and credit oversight, effective with Q3 2025 evaluation submissions.
Expand Case Source Information and Improve Evaluation Efficiency
The NHSA will expand the scope of case source information and improve evaluation efficiency. This includes using court judgment cases, administrative penalties, audit reports, and investigation results as the basis for evaluation. The focus will be on addressing inflated pharmaceutical prices caused by commercial bribery and illegal bidding. Enhanced collaboration and information exchange among departments will ensure the timeliness of evaluation work.
Adhere to Strict Standards and Establish a Solid Compliance Bottom Line
The NHSA has simplified the evaluation of dishonesty into three levels: “dishonesty,” “serious dishonesty,” and “particularly serious dishonesty.” Thresholds for “particularly serious dishonesty” caused by commercial bribery have been adjusted from over RMB 2 million to over RMB 1 million. For tax-related violations, the threshold for “particularly serious dishonesty” has been adjusted from over RMB 10 million to over RMB 2.5 million. The highest level of dishonesty will be evaluated for bribery and other improper benefits given to staff of medical security departments or collusion with bidders in centralized procurement.
Increase the Cost of Dishonesty and Strengthen Handling Efforts
Distributors will face suspension of distribution qualifications in evaluated provinces for 1, 3, or 5 years based on their level of dishonesty. Manufacturers with “particularly serious dishonesty” will have all their products’ online listing and bidding qualifications suspended in evaluated provinces, as well as in all provinces for involved products. Measures to remove price inflation space and additional reductions will be applied to products that cannot refund unreasonable returns.
Positive Incentives and Promote Enterprises to Actively Correct
The NHSA will balance leniency and strictness, reducing or exempting measures for enterprises that promptly correct dishonest behavior according to the severity of the situation.
Strictly Standardize Operations and Improve Work Quality
The NHSA will regularly notify provincial healthcare security administration departments of the list of public medical institutions with the highest purchase amount of dishonest products. Provincial centralized procurement institutions must complete evaluations and disposal within 6 months after receiving source information. The evaluation results will take effect on the first day of the next quarter after the evaluation is completed.-Fineline Info & Tech