Reform to crack the medical price nut

Regulator restructures healthcare service and medicinal charges in renewed attempt to tackle the long-standing concerns of the public

While price restructuring is a positive step in dealing with soaring healthcare costs, there is ample room for improvement on price supervision, experts and industrial insiders said, after the nation's top pricing regulator unveiled pricing reform guidelines last week.

The guidelines, by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planner, restructure healthcare services and the medicinal fees patients are charged, after the State Council emphasized the significance of improving healthcare.