Public Hospital Medical Service Price And Government Regulation

The issue of medical treatment and public health has always been the focus and hot issue of government and the public, concerning daily life of common people. As detailed requirements of medical health service reform in the report to the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China put it, we need to build up basic health care system, improve the health of the nation as well as improve the professional ethics and style of health workers and the quality of medical services. In recent years, in order to develop and consummate medical and health reform, increasing support and input has been given to medical industry by the nation, which has made contribution to the great progress of medical health reform. At the same time, the price issue of medical health service is still the prominent problem which impedes the implementing of healthcare reform and the fulfillment of the notion that "every sick is treated".One conflict exists on the price of state-owned hospital service. On the one hand, if the prices of health care are under its cost due to the state intervention, the revenue and profit of hospitals will be influenced by the growing medical expenditures. However, the limited subsidies of the nation can’t make up the profit loss of hospitals because of the large price gap, which leads to the lack of efficiency and initiative of state-owned hospitals. It not only affects the offer of ideal medical service of high efficiency, but also results in excessive financial pressure which will impede the economic development of the society. On the other hand, if the government gives up its intervention on medical service prices and turns to the adjusting effects of market, influenced by supply and demand, the prices of medical services will be very high. The excessive medical expenditures can deprive some people of access to basic medical services and put them under the heavy burden of finance. The welfare nature and accessibility of medical service can’t be ensured, which does not conform to the public property of medical industry. So in addition to many other countries, China has been searching for appropriate planning scheme so as to control medical service prices effectively and find the breakthrough point in the conflict. The scheme should not only help to release the financial pressure of the nation caused by increasing medical expenditures, but as well remove the financial obstacles for common people in seeking medical services. If so, medical service, as one of public services, can indeed benefit all the people.Under this background, through the analysis of the status and cause of state-owned hospital medical services’prices as well as the medical service price regulation reforms in history and in current situations, policy proposal towards public medical service price regulation is given in the dissertation combined with some inspiration from advanced patterns in developed countries. It can be a reference for the regulation of Chinese government towards medical health service.There are five chapters in this dissertation. Chapter One is an introduction, including the aim, meaning, method, related articles and overview of this research.Chapter Two is the theoretical basis of price regulation of medical and health services. It presents the concept and features of medical service as well as the related price regulation theory, which provide theoretical basis of the related analysis.Chapter Three emphasizes the analysis of the Chinese medical service price system status. Further analysis of Chinese public medical service will be made according to the reality in some state-owned hospitals in Zhengzhou, Henan province.Chapter Four shows the reforms in history and current situation of medical service of Chinese government in addition to the related experience of developed counties such as America and Japan, offering foundation for suggestions below on regulation.Chapter Five is the proposal towards price regulation of state-owned hospitals’ medical service based on the analysis above.