The reckless era of traditional Chinese medicine will end. The first traditional Chinese medicine law enters the legislative process

　　Although the "Huangdi Neijing" and "Compendium of Materia Medica" written thousands of years ago have always been regarded as my country's rare treasures of traditional Chinese medicine, for a long time in the past, the field of traditional Chinese medicine in my country has faced the embarrassing state of "nothing to rely on". Now, with the official submission of the first "Traditional Chinese Medicine Law (Draft)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft"), my country's first law in the field of traditional Chinese medicine has entered the formal legislative process, and the "reckless era" of the traditional Chinese medicine industry may come to an end.

　　Develop health insurance payment policies

　　After a lapse of 32 years, the "Draft", which has been a legislative proposal since 1983, was adopted at the State Council executive meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on December 9, and was formally submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for review on December 21.

　　This means that the development of traditional Chinese medicine with a history of thousands of years has not only been elevated to the national level, but the legal status of my country's traditional Chinese medicine medical services will also be confirmed for the first time.

　　How much impact will this "Draft" have on the industry? We can tell one thing or two from the trend of relevant listed companies in the A-share market: After the news of the passage of the draft, the price of related traditional Chinese medicine concept stocks continued to strengthen. In the 10 working days since December 9, the stock price of Pien Tze Huang (600436.SH), a leading traditional Chinese medicine company, rose from 58 yuan to 70 yuan, an increase of more than 20%; Baiyunshan (600332.SH) rose from 28 yuan to 32 yuan, an increase of nearly 15%; Dong'e Ejiao (000423.SZ) rose from 48.5 yuan to 56 yuan, an increase of 15%; on the day the "Draft" was officially submitted on the 21st, these leading traditional Chinese medicine stocks all reached their daily limit.

　　Chen Qiguang, leader of the Chinese Medicine National Situation Research Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with reporters that this national legislation is different from previous Chinese medicine regulations and will answer some of the problems that the development of traditional Chinese medicine has been facing in a more systematic, profound and complete manner. “For example, how can traditional Chinese medicine resolve the relationship between inheritance and innovation, how can it be better integrated into the economic industry chain, and how can ethnic medicine be inclusive and better reflected? ”

　　This "Draft" has stipulated the qualification access, talent training, and traditional Chinese medicine services for traditional Chinese medicine companies. Specifically, the "Draft" proposes that the government should strengthen the construction of the traditional Chinese medicine service system, rationally allocate resources and improve service capabilities, and will support the development of traditional Chinese medicine preventive health care services and incorporate them into basic public health services; at the same time, formulate medical insurance payment policies to include qualified traditional Chinese medicine medical institutions into the scope of designated medical institutions for basic medical insurance, and include qualified traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment items, Chinese medicine pieces, Chinese patent medicines and Chinese medicine preparations into the scope of basic medical insurance payment.

　　Public data shows that among the 861 clinical approvals approved in my country in 2014, the number of traditional Chinese medicines was only 33, accounting for less than 4%. The lack of legislation and the lack of industry system management is the main reason for the backward development of traditional Chinese medicines. And if more traditional Chinese medicine products can be recognized and entered into the medical insurance system, the research and development and strength of traditional Chinese medicine companies will be greatly enhanced.

　　Encourage social capital to enter

　　In addition to the emphasis on the development planning of traditional Chinese medicine, another major impact on the industry is that more private capital is encouraged to enter the industrial development of traditional Chinese medicine medical institutions, thus laying the foundation for the coordinated development of the upstream and downstream of the traditional Chinese medicine industry from drugs to treatments.

　　The "Draft" points out that social forces will be supported in setting up traditional Chinese medicine medical institutions, and medical personnel will have the same rights as traditional Chinese medicine medical institutions run by the government in terms of professional title evaluation and other aspects. Traditional Chinese medicine service personnel will be organized and carried out classified assessments based on the safety risks of traditional Chinese medicine technical methods by the provincial-level Chinese medicine authorities. Those who pass the assessment will be qualified as doctors and can engage in medical activities in the form of individual practices. At the same time, the "Draft" changes traditional Chinese medicine clinics from the current licensing management to filing management, and relaxes the industry entry threshold.

　　Through this, more social capital will officially enter the development of traditional Chinese medicine medical service institutions in a legal capacity. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners outside public hospitals can also participate in professional title assessment, and social personnel can obtain physician qualifications after passing the assessment. The regulations that restrict doctors from traditional public hospitals from “going global” have been released in this draft.

　　In fact, unlike Western medicine, which focuses on medical equipment and doctors' group diagnosis and treatment, traditional Chinese medicine focuses more on the treatment and maintenance of chronic diseases and pre-diseases. The treatment methods often show the characteristics of "one-on-one", long-term, and repeated treatments by doctors. “Famous TCM doctors who establish their own medical groups and clinics will have greater advantages in cost and management than Western medicine. ”An investor in the medical field told reporters.

　　The precedent that can be seen is that in Australia, the birthplace of the world's first traditional Chinese medicine legislation, the number of traditional Chinese medicine outpatient clinics has increased significantly since the country's legislation was implemented on July 1, 2012. There are now more than 2,500 traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinics in Australia. Public data shows that about 40% of patients in Australia seek non-Western medical treatment, and among these people, more than 80% seek traditional Chinese medicine treatment.

　　Industry insiders told reporters that after traditional Chinese medicine was legislated in Australia, the biggest change was that insurance companies began to cover traditional Chinese medicine treatment insurance, including consultation fees and acupuncture fees. Treaters can be reimbursed by insurance companies for their traditional Chinese medicine treatment and medication costs in proportion. This is a huge change that has taken place after the passage of the Traditional Chinese Medicine legislation in Australia and the legal status of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Western society.