Extra charge on hospital medical supplies to end Saturday in Beijing

Beijing will cancel additional charges for medical supplies at hospitals on Saturday, as part of the capital's new health-care reform plan, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Tuesday.

The plan aims to further improve medical services in the capital and strengthen industry supervision, said Lei Haichao, director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission. "It is also a way to regulate some medical service violations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region."

Nearly 3,700 medical institutions in Beijing will participate into the reform process.

Previously, medical institutions in Beijing charged an additional 5 percent fee for each medical supply costing more than 500 yuan, and 10 percent for supplies less than 500 yuan.

When the new plan is implemented, medical institutions will not charge any additional fees and patients only need to pay for the supplies at their purchase price.

"This means less economic burden for patients and it will largely improve their medical treatment experience," said Lei, adding that it also saves costs for medical institutions.

"Some extra benefits that might be sought in the process also will be prevented," he said.

Huang Rui contributed to this story.