Health is the foundation of people's livelihood and the source of happiness. 2026 is the beginning year of the 15th Five Year Plan, and the country focuses on the urgent and difficult issues in the field of public health. Recently, a series of heavyweight conferences have been held and arrangements have been made, from precise top-level design and planning to refined implementation paths, outlining a clear blueprint for the healthcare industry in the new era. Top level design: Fully promote the implementation of the health priority development strategy. The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2025 and the National Health Work Conference held at the beginning of 2026 have anchored the strategic direction and implementation path for the high-quality development of the health industry during the 15th Five Year Plan period. The National Health Work Conference proposed to optimize the functional positioning and structure of medical institutions, continue to promote the strong foundation project of medical and health care, stabilize the operation of secondary hospitals and expand rehabilitation nursing functions, regulate the scale and development speed of tertiary hospitals, optimize the structure, and comprehensively enhance the public welfare, accessibility, and capacity level of medical and health services. Prioritize 'strong foundation'. The No. 1 central document of the Central Committee of the CPC in 2026 and the National Health System Grass roots Health and Finance Work Conference have clarified and deepened this, requiring "implementing the project of strengthening the foundation of medical and health care", which not only includes promoting the upgrading of the hardware facilities of county-level hospitals and key center township hospitals, but also aims to strengthen the operation guarantee of county, district and grass roots medical institutions, and ensure that the grass roots are "staffed, rich and operational". Breaking through bottlenecks: Extending medical resources to the doorstep of the masses to implement a strong foundation project for medical and health care, not only to promote the sinking of high-quality medical resources, but also to achieve unified management of people, finance, materials, and information within the county, and to solve the practical obstacles of "drugs cannot be dispensed, money cannot be used universally, and people cannot go down". The reform of medical insurance payment methods, as a key lever to overcome the above-mentioned obstacles and activate the vitality of grassroots medical services, is continuously deepening its implementation and releasing policy effectiveness. The payment method for medical insurance has gradually shifted from project based payment to various methods such as disease based payment and per capita payment. Payment by disease has basically achieved full coverage in the overall planning area, with a disease coverage rate of 95%. In 2026, the National Healthcare Security Administration proposed that all provinces open employee medical insurance personal accounts for cross provincial assistance, making it convenient for the public to seek medical treatment and medication at their doorstep. In 2024, Ma Lili from Quyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province successfully removed a giant fibroid in her leg through surgery at the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The national policy is good, and medical treatment in other places can be directly settled through medical insurance, and you can also enjoy expert resources from tertiary hospitals. The total cost of surgery, hospitalization, and medical expenses was only 2075 yuan, and the medical insurance fund reimbursed 11597 yuan. Medical treatment is both cost-effective and reassuring, "Ma Lili told reporters. The No. 1 central document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made it clear that we should consolidate and expand the achievements of rural residents' medical insurance participation, improve the incentive and constraint mechanism for continuous insurance participation, and steadily increase the proportion of medical insurance funds used in county and rural medical and health institutions. This is not only the "source of vitality" for improving grassroots service capabilities, but also provides a solid payment guarantee for guiding the masses to seek medical treatment nearby. From "being able to see a doctor" to "being optimistic about illness" and "preventing illness", the country has made great efforts to extend medical resources to the doorstep of the people. Emphasizing both quality and efficiency: Technological innovation empowers health services. If consolidating grassroots is the stable foundation, then improving service content and quality is the key to winning the future. The deployment of the series of conferences demonstrates a clear "quality promotes efficiency" orientation, as emphasized by the National Health Commission: vigorously developing new quality productivity in health is an inherent requirement for promoting high-quality development of the cause. We must adhere to the integrated promotion of education, technology and talent development, and empower health services with technological innovation. In 2025, the National Medical Products Administration will accelerate the listing of high-end medical devices through policy integration, issue ten measures to support the innovative development of high-end medical devices, establish a mechanism for the first launch of "global new" medical devices in China, and actively cultivate "global new" medical devices made in China. The real-world research level of Chinese medical devices is among the top in the world. The reporter learned from the National Medical Products Administration that by 2025, China will make up for the shortcomings of high-end medical equipment and accelerate the research and development of key core technologies. In the next five years, with the deepening development of fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and biotechnology, China's medical device industry is at an important juncture of transforming from large to strong and overtaking on different lanes. In addition, the scientific and efficient formulation of the "15th Five Year Plan", the strengthening of the construction of national level basic public resource platforms, the enhancement of basic research, original innovation, and key core technology breakthroughs in the field of health, and other measures are driving the upgrading of the governance system towards scientificity, refinement, and efficiency. These deployments together build a new quality productivity core engine for the high-quality development of China's healthcare industry, injecting strong momentum into future medical services and public decision-making. Serving the People: Creating a Common Prosperity and Healthy Background. The ultimate test of healthcare reform is the sense of gain and satisfaction of the people. Resonating with the deployment of previous conferences is the "Ten Practical Actions for the People's Health System to Serve the People in 2026" launched by the National Health Commission, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention. These facts are the "capillary" projects of national strategy in the most subtle aspects of people's livelihood, and are vivid footnotes of the "progressive deployment" that benefits the people. These ten practical matters not only consolidate and deepen the eight practical matters for 2025, but also precisely strengthen the shortcomings. From promoting the provision of pediatric services in tertiary hospitals to expanding to adding 1000 township health centers and community health service centers to provide diagnosis and treatment services for common childhood diseases; Extending the provision of mental and psychological services from local hospitals to 110 new counties offering psychological outpatient services. These facts clearly demonstrate the trajectory of the health system's service focus of "putting the key at the forefront, shifting the focus downwards, and sinking resources", reflecting the continuous response of national policies to solving the urgent and difficult problems of the masses and the unremitting pursuit of health equity. Since February this year, the Chaoyang District Medical Security Bureau of Beijing has actively connected with designated retail pharmacies in its jurisdiction to further meet the convenient medical service needs of insured individuals, and further expanded the coverage of online drug purchases through personal medical insurance accounts. Previously, when I went to a community hospital to get medicine, I had to wake up early and queue up. Now, I can buy medicine online and use medical insurance to pay. The medicine I purchased can be delivered to my home in less than half an hour. It's really becoming more and more convenient, "said Zhang Wen, a resident of Zhuxin Jiayuan in Chaoyang District, Beijing, to reporters. At the beginning of the new year in 2026, a series of heavy deployments of the healthcare system have outlined a development path from macro planning to micro implementation, from system improvement to individual protection, and from basic support to quality upgrading. It can be predicted that with the steady implementation of these interlocking and progressive deployments, and the results of the implementation, a picture of people's health with a stronger foundation, more dense network, higher quality, and better experience will be slowly launched on the journey of the "15th Five Year Plan", and will consolidate the most solid health foundation for the realization of Chinese path to modernization. (New Society)