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Hospitals ordered to offer cheaper check-ups
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-29 06:51
Patients will benefit from reduced medical bills after the government banned
hospitals from making profits on check-ups using CT scanners, X-ray ray machines
and other equipment.
The move is a reaction to mounting public discontent with the price of health
care.
Public hospitals have been ordered that "no profit should be considered" when
conducting check-ups using 10 specific kinds of machines.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the hospitals' pricing
supervisor authorized by the State Council, and the Ministry of Health made a
joint statement yesterday to launch pricing principles.
"This is a major step forward as we tackle the pressing issue of high medical
bills," said a commission spokesman. Supervision will mainly focus on the use of
10 machines including X-ray machines and CT and magnetic resonance scanners.
The commission will soon establish a specific body to decide prices of
physical examinations when using the equipment. The spokesman did not say by how
much bills would be cut, but accused some hospitals of blindly importing
expensive equipment and passing on the costs to patients.
China's expenditure on imported medical equipment reached US$1.98 billion
during the first 11 months of this year, a 12 per cent year-on-year increase,
according to statistics from NDRC.
To increase bills, and profits, some hospitals even required patients to
undergo unnecessary checks, the spokesman said, citing the case of a patient
with a common cold who was told to have a CT scan.
Yesterday's decision was a continuation of the government's campaign to cut
medical bills. In September, a 40 per cent reduction in retail price of 22 types
of medicine was announced.
In the past eight years, the government has enacted 16 waves of price cuts
covering 1,500 medicines. However, the majority are still unhappy about high
bills and the poor standard of care offered at public hospitals.
(China Daily 12/29/2005 page2)
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