1. Policy history
The cochlear implant industry has entered a new stage of centralized procurement. In 2018, China officially launched the "13th Five-Year Plan" cochlear implant assistance project, which provided free cochlear implant product implantation and subsidies for surgical costs and training expenses for eligible hearing-impaired children. In August 2021, in the "Reply of the National Medical Security Administration to Recommendation No. 9025 of the Fourth Session of the 13th National People's Congress", it was proposed that the National Medical Security Administration will further promote the centralized procurement of medical consumables, focusing on some high-value medical consumables with large clinical use and high purchase amounts, and gradually expand the scope of procurement to reduce the burden of medical treatment for the masses; In December 2022, the Henan Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau issued the "Announcement on the Establishment of Three Inter-Provincial Alliances of Medical Consumables including Hemodialysis", which intends to carry out centralized procurement of six types of medical consumables, including hemodialysis, neurosurgery, neurointervention, peripheral intervention, general intervention and cochlear implants.
2. Summary and interpretation of policies at the national level
-- The policy direction of the cochlear implant industry at the national level
The national cochlear implant policy mainly covers five types of directions: rescue policy, medical insurance policy, development policy, normative policy, and centralized procurement policy. In terms of relief policies, since the beginning of the "13th Five-Year Plan", the cochlear implant rescue project has been changed from the overall management of the state to the organization and implementation of the provinces themselves, and the cochlear implant surgery, assistive devices, training and other contents have been rescued and subsidized; In terms of medical insurance policy, the basic medical insurance system has not yet included cochlear implants in the scope of medical insurance payment nationwide, but many provinces and cities such as Shanghai, Anhui, Shandong, and Zhejiang have included cochlear implants in medical insurance category A and B for management to reduce the medical burden of patients; In terms of development policies, the state and some local governments have issued relevant policies to encourage the development of high-end implantable interventional medical devices such as cochlear implants; In terms of normative policies, the state successively issued the "Guiding Principles for Clinical Trials of Artificial Ear Pot Implantation Systems" and "Guiding Principles for the Market Investigation of Cochlear Implant System Registration Technology" in 2017 to standardize the registration and application of implantable cochlear implant systems, technical review and clinical trials; In terms of centralized procurement policy, the state has not yet included cochlear implants in the scope of national procurement, but in 2022, 24 provinces including Henan have issued relevant centralized procurement policies, proposing to carry out centralized procurement of six types of medical consumables such as cochlear implants.
——Summary of relevant policies of the cochlear implant industry at the national level
In recent years, the national and local governments have gradually introduced a series of policies to promote the development of the cochlear implant industry. In 2018, China promulgated the "Opinions on the Establishment of a Rescue System for Disabled Children", which clarified the assistance system for disabled children that will be fully implemented from October 1, 2018, and provides free cochlear implant implantation and subsidies for surgical and training expenses for eligible hearing-impaired children. In December 2022, the Henan Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau issued the "Announcement on the Establishment of Three Inter-Provincial Alliances of Medical Consumables including Hemodialysis", which intends to carry out centralized procurement of six types of medical consumables, including hemodialysis, neurosurgery, neurointervention, peripheral intervention, general interventional and cochlear implants.
3. Summary and interpretation of policies at the provincial and municipal levels
——Cochlear implant industry policy heat map of 31 provinces and cities
In 2018, various provinces have introduced measures related to cochlear implant ** relief projects, and from the perspective of policy popularity, there are more relevant policies in Zhejiang.
——Summary of rescue policies for the cochlear implant industry in 31 provinces and cities
At present, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country have issued measures for the implementation of assistance for disabled children in their regions, and two ways are usually adopted in the provision of hearing products: one is centralized bidding and procurement, and products are provided free of charge; The second is to provide subsidies for product purchase costs, and the scope of assistance mainly covers surgery and basic training, assistive device adaptation, etc., and the assistance standards are set by each locality.
——Summary of medical insurance policies for the cochlear implant industry in 31 provinces and cities
At present, cochlear implants have been included in the medical insurance payment scope of Shanghai, Anhui, Shandong, Zhejiang and other provinces and cities to reduce the medical burden of patients.
——Summary of cochlear implant industry development policies in 31 provinces and cities
In recent years, Hunan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Hubei, Shandong, and Sichuan have all introduced relevant policies to encourage the development of high-end implantable interventional medical equipment such as cochlear implants.