The benefits of an integrated social medical insurance for health services utilization in rural China: evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Improving health equity is a fundamental goal for establishing social health insurance. This article evaluated the benefits of the Integration of Social Medical Insurance (ISMI) policy for health services utilization in rural China.

Methods

Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal study (2011‒2018), we estimated the changes in rates and equity in health services utilization by a generalized linear mixed model, concentration curves, concentration indices, and a horizontal inequity index before and after the introduction of the ISMI policy.

Results

For the changes in rates, the generalized linear mixed model showed that the rate of inpatient health services utilization (IHSU) nearly doubled after the introduction of the ISMI policy (8.78 % vs. 16.58

SUBMITTER: Fan X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8145815 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature