Impact of Air Pollution on Residents' Medical Expenses: A Study Based on the Survey Data of 122 Cities in China.

Huan Liu,Meng Wang,Tiantian Hu

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.743087

Huan Liu, Meng Wang + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.743087

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Abstract

Background: With the development of the social economy, air pollution has resulted in increased social costs. Medical costs and health issues due to air pollution are important aspects of environmental governance in various countries.Methods: This study uses daily air pollution monitoring data from 122 cities in China to empirically investigate the impact of air pollution on residents' medical expenses using the Heckman two-stage and instrumental variable methods, matching data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) survey.Results: The study found that poor air quality, measured by the air quality index (AQI), significantly increased the probability of chronic lung disease, heart disease, and self-rated poor health. Additionally, the AQI (with an effect of 4.51%) significantly impacted health-seeking behavior and medical expenses. The medical expenditure effects of mild, moderate, severe, and serious pollution days were 3.27, 7.21, 8.62, and 42.66%, respectively.Conclusion: In the long run, residents' health in areas with a higher air pollution index, indicating poor air quality, is negatively impacted. The more extreme the pollution, the higher the probability of residents' medical treatment and the subsequent increase in medical expenses. Group and regional heterogeneity also play a role in the impact of air pollution on medical expenses. Compared with the existing literature, this study is based on individuals aged 15 years and above and produces reliable research conclusions.

Highlights

Air pollution is a common problem in human, social, and economic development
Based on the previous analysis, we investigated the heterogeneity of air pollution on residents’ medical expenses based on age and gender differences, urban and rural and regional economic development level differences, and different pollutants to improve the robustness of the results
Consistent with our findings, studies focusing on the concentrations of pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), O3, PM2.5, and PM10 in outdoor air pollutants show that an increase in the concentration of these pollutants significantly

Summary

Introduction

Air pollution is a common problem in human, social, and economic development. Due to its strong mobility, the impact of air pollution on different groups of people is homogeneous and non-discriminatory. The WHO has issued air quality guidelines to prevent the negative impact of air pollutants on health [1]. According to the Bulletin on China’s Ecological Environment, 2019 [2], 53.4% of cities at the prefecture level and above failed to meet air quality standards. According to the 2017 Global Disease Burden Report [3] released by the WHO, 161.1 of every 100,000 deaths in China resulted from air pollution. With the development of the social economy, air pollution has resulted in increased social costs. Medical costs and health issues due to air pollution are important aspects of environmental governance in various countries

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Discussion

Conclusion