The NHSA, in its explanation of the universal medical security ’15th Five-Year
Plan’, said it will steadily expand national collective procurement of drugs and
high-value medical consumables and promote province-led, nationwide-alliance
purchasing. It will deepen procurement coverage in traditional Chinese medicine,
biologics and medical consumables and gradually bring high-clinical-volume,
excessively priced drugs and consumables into procurement to lower patient
costs. The agency said it will optimize procurement rules, improve alignment
between procured products and clinical demand, coordinate with drug regulators
on quality assurance for winning products, promote fair competition and crack
down on bid-rigging and collusion.
