Abstract
BackgroundIn response to China’s rapidly aging population and increasing healthcare service demands, the Chinese government is developing a universal medical insurance system. This study aimed to assess healthcare utilization patterns and analyze the impacts of medical insurance schemes on healthcare utilization among the middle-aged and elderly in China.MethodsData was extracted from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Healthcare utilization was measured by outpatient and inpatient service utilization. Univariate analysis was deployed to examine the impacts of different medical insurance schemes on healthcare utilization. The factors associated with healthcare utilization were estimated using a random-effects logistic regression model.ResultsDuring the study period, the number of individuals involved was 17,250, 18,195 and 19,842, respectively. The proportion of individuals who received outpatient service was 18.6, 20.7 and 18.7% and those who used inpatient service was 9.6, 13.8 and 14.3%, respectively. We identified that medical insurance was a major protective factor for improving healthcare utilization but different medical insurance schemes exerted various impacts on the middle-aged and the elderly.ConclusionsDespite the growing population coverage, the Chinese government should make every effort to bridge the gap among people with different medical insurance schemes. Further evaluation is needed to assess whether the expanded medical insurance schemes could protect the middle-aged and elderly households from catastrophic health expenditure.
Highlights
In response to China’s rapidly aging population and increasing healthcare service demands, the Chinese government is developing a universal medical insurance system
In China, an aging population has brought more than 300 million non-communicable diseases (NCD) patients across the country which led to increasing healthcare utilization and further straining healthcare services [4,5,6]
New Rural Cooperative Medical Insurance Scheme (NRCMS) covered most of the sampled individuals (72.2, 72.1 and 68.8%), followed by Urban Employees Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) (12.4, 13.6 and 14.6%)
Summary
In response to China’s rapidly aging population and increasing healthcare service demands, the Chinese government is developing a universal medical insurance system. Low-income groups suffer greater challenges in accessing healthcare services and are more likely to be impoverished due to the health expenditures This exacerbates the disparities between the rich and the poor in healthcare utilization [10]. In response to these problems, the Chinese government develops a universal medical insurance system, including the Urban Employees Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI), the New Rural Cooperative Medical Insurance Scheme (NRCMS) and the Urban Residents’ Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI). Near-universal medical insurance coverage has been achieved, from only 85% (1.13 billion) of the Chinese population covered in 2008 to 95% (1.28 billion) in 2011 and 97% (1.33 billion) in 2015 [12,13,14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
