China cuts high-tech medical treatment costs via new pricing guidelines

China's National Healthcare Security Administration has announced an update to its medical service pricing guidelines, introducing more than 100 new treatment procedures aimed at expanding access to high-end medical technologies.

Among the most notable changes, the cost of artificial heart implantation surgery has dropped by 30 percent, from roughly 1 million yuan ($140,000) to 700,000 yuan. This reduction was achieved through standardized pricing policies and closer cooperation with domestic device manufacturers to reduce distribution markups.

The revised guidelines also cover advanced procedures such as proton radiation therapy, cochlear implants, artificial larynx devices and brain-computer interface technologies. In a significant move earlier this year, China's national procurement program for cochlear implants slashed prices by 80 percent through bulk purchasing, reducing the cost from over 200,000 yuan to just 50,000 yuan per unit.

These reforms are part of China's broader push to make life-saving medical technologies more affordable and widely available, especially within its public healthcare system.