The Impact of Commercial Medical Insurance Participation on Household Debt

Abstract

Household debt is an important part of household financial decision-making, and commercial medical insurance has gradually become an important tool for households to use in improving their household balance sheets. Based on 2017 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data, this paper studies the impact of commercial medical insurance participation on household debt and analyzes the heterogeneity of household conditions, such as the location of the household, the age of the household head, and the health status of members. The study found that households participating in commercial medical insurance are more likely to be indebted, and their degree of debt is higher than that of households without commercial medical insurance. For urban households, young households, and households with healthy members, the participation of commercial medical insurance has a high effect on the likelihood and the degree of debt. Therefore, while strengthening household insurance awareness, the government should promote the strengthening of the risk-resistance function of commercial medical insurance and encourage financial institutions to design products that combine insurance and credit to release households’ consumption and investment potential.