By Fineline Cube 
China’s National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) this week issued the “Notice on Optimizing Medical Service Pricing Management Procedures,” introducing a region-based management system for medical service pricing. Under the new framework, provincial-level healthcare security departments will manage pricing items and collaborate with authorized city-level departments to regulate price levels.
Policy Details
Provincial healthcare security departments are tasked with reinforcing their primary responsibilities and ensuring pricing policies adhere to three key requirements:
- Alignment with national policy direction and compliance with NHSA system requirements.
- Adaptation to local conditions while maintaining reasonable inter-provincial price ratios and enhancing cross-regional price comparisons to ensure coordinated pricing.
- Strengthening of self-evaluation mechanisms to ensure ongoing assessment and improvement of pricing policies.
Project Management Guidelines
In terms of project management, both current and new projects must conform to the requirements outlined in the Medical Service Price Project Approval Guidelines. Special attention will be given to price projects with high equipment and consumables costs, where risk prevention measures will be implemented to mitigate potential financial risks.
Price Management and Adjustment
Provincial healthcare security departments are also required to conduct regular evaluations of dynamic adjustments to medical service prices. These evaluations will inform price adjustment plans, ensuring consistency between adjustments and assessment results. Cross-regional price comparisons will be conducted to maintain fairness and transparency.
Notably, incremental price adjustments are strictly prohibited in scenarios where the growth rate of medical expenses is excessive or where the medical insurance fund is unable to cover the expenses, safeguarding the sustainability and stability of the healthcare system.-Fineline Info & Tech