Reforms are a shot in the arm for capital's healthcare system

Treatment of newborn babies will now be reimbursed under Beijing's basic medical insurance system after the new plan comes into effect on Saturday. [Photo/Feng Yongbin]

Price changes

Besides the medical service fee that is correlated with doctors' incomes, the prices for general healthcare services, ranging from beds and nursing, medical imaging examinations such as CT and MRI scans, to traditional Chinese medicine, surgery and other treatments, will also have major changes, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning.

The general reform principle for those items is to increase the prices for beds, nursing, surgery and traditional Chinese medicine treatment, while reducing the prices for physical examinations using medical equipment.

For example, the price of common-level nursing for patients confined to a bed will be increased from 7 yuan to 26 yuan, appendectomy surgery from 234 yuan to 560 yuan, and acupuncture from 4 yuan to 26 yuan per session.

CT scans will drop from 180 yuan to 135 yuan, an MRI scan from 850 yuan to no more than 600 yuan, and a PET/CT scan from 10,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan.

Fang said the price reform of healthcare services involves 435 items. Medical imaging examinations account for 42.5 percent of the total number, general healthcare services 28.7 percent, traditional Chinese medicine services 22.1 percent, surgery and other physical treatments 6.7 percent.

He said that part of the costs of most of the 435 items will now be reimbursable, making the costs more affordable for patients.

Fang said community medical institutions will also be equipped with more drugs for chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, offering more convenience for residents.

Similar medical care reforms will be promoted to all public medical institutions in China by the end of this year, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China's top health authority.