Zhengzhou, China – 11 Sep 2026 – The Henan Provincial Healthcare Security Administration has released for public comment its draft plan to standardize and consolidate medical services pricing items in four clinical categories – digestive system, vascular and lymphatic system, maxillofacial surgery, and general treatment – together with matching lists of price items proposed for cancellation in each category. The consultation, issued under the national pilot program for deepening medical service price reform (Yi Bao Fa [2021] No. 41), accepts written or scanned feedback before 17 September 2026.

Policy Milestone

Standardization & Consolidation Framework

• Two‑Track Restructuring: For each of the four categories, the Administration has prepared both a draft of standardized/consolidated price items (Attachments 1–4) and a draft list of price items proposed for cancellation (Attachments 5–8) – signaling a deliberate slimming of Henan’s fragmented local price‑item catalog.
• Category Pairing: Vascular and lymphatic system services are handled together as a single consolidated category, alongside digestive system, maxillofacial surgery and general treatment items.
• National Guidelines Alignment: The restructuring implements the NHSA’s project‑establishment guidelines (立项指南) for medical service price items – part of the nationwide campaign to unify locally defined, inconsistently named service items under standardized national categories.
• Pricing Reform Pilot Lineage: The plan operationalizes the 2021 eight‑department price reform pilot framework, which shifted the policy focus from item‑by‑item price adjustment toward structural standardization of what hospitals may charge and bill.
• Draft Content: Specific item names, mappings and price levels are set out in the eight attachments and were not disclosed in the public notice itself.

Public Consultation Requirements

• Eligible Submitters: Any organization or individual.
• Format: Comments must be submitted in writing or as electronic scans to the Administration’s Department of Medical Commodity Pricing and Tender Procurement.
• Authentication: Submissions must bear the official seal of the organization or the personal signature of the submitter; feedback is due before 17 September 2026.

Market Impact & Outlook

• Catalog Rationalization: Consolidation paired with explicit cancellation lists will compress Henan’s billable service menu, eliminating overlapping, outdated or fragmented charge items – a prerequisite for transparent, comparable pricing across hospitals.
• Hospital Billing Impact: Providers will need to remap billing systems and internal charge masters to the new standardized items, with abolished items requiring migration to consolidated equivalents.
• National Convergence Signal: As more provinces issue guideline‑based restructuring drafts, Henan’s move reinforces the trajectory toward nationally uniform medical service price items, reducing cross‑province variation in how identical procedures are named and priced.
• Price‑Level Uncertainty: The notice covers item standardization and consolidation, not the setting of new price levels; any subsequent price adjustments would follow separate provincial processes – details not disclosed.
• Tight Window: The roughly six‑day comment period suggests the Administration intends to finalize the restructured catalog on a compressed timeline.

Forward‑Looking Statements
This brief contains forward‑looking statements regarding the finalization and implementation of Henan Province’s standardized and consolidated medical services pricing items. Actual outcomes may differ due to risks including public feedback, revisions to draft consolidation and cancellation lists, national guideline updates, and provincial implementation timing. The drafts remain subject to revision and do not constitute final policy.-China Health Reform Pulse

Policy Source: http://ylbz.henan.gov.cn/2026/09-11/3418603.html