China Pharmaceutical University Reports Findings in Public Health (Effects of basic medical insurance integration on subjective wellbeing of residents in China: empirical evidence from a quasi-experiment): Health and Medicine – Public Health

2023 SEP 07 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Health and Medicine - Public Health is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Enhancing the wellbeing of residents through universal health coverage (UHC) is a long-term policy goal for China. In 2016, China integrated the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) and the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) into the Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URRBMI) to address the problem of fragmentation.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from China Pharmaceutical University, “The objective of this study was to investigate whether the integration of basic medical insurance had an impact on the subjective wellbeing of Chinese residents. Using the China Household Finance Survey data of 2015 and 2019, we empirically estimated the influence of the integration of basic medical insurance on Chinese residents through the difference-in-difference method based on propensity score matching (PSM-DID). Our findings indicate that the integration of basic medical insurance improved the subjective wellbeing of the insured population. Additionally, through heterogeneity testing, we validated that the integration increased the subjective wellbeing of residents from less developed regions in West China and rural areas, as well as those with older adult dependents. However, the subjective wellbeing of low-income groups, who were expected to benefit more from the URRBMI, did not improve significantly, at least in the short term. According to our research, the integration of basic medical insurance in China supports the country’s objective of achieving equality and providing universal benefits for its residents. The introduction of the URRBMI has had a positive impact on the subjective wellbeing of insured individuals. This is particularly beneficial for disadvantaged groups in less developed regions, as well as for residents with older adult dependents. However, the subjective wellbeing of the middle-income group has improved significantly, whereas that of the low-income group, despite being the intended beneficiaries of the integration, did not show significant improvement. From a funding perspective, we recommend establishing a dynamic adjustment funding system that links residents’ medical insurance funding standards with their disposable income. Regarding the utilization of the URRBMI, the benefit packages should be expanded, particularly by covering more outpatient services through risk pooling.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “We call for further research with additional data and continued efforts on improving wellbeing of residents, particularly for disadvantaged populations.”

For more information on this research see: Effects of basic medical insurance integration on subjective wellbeing of residents in China: empirical evidence from a quasi-experiment. Frontiers in Public Health, 2023;11:1211350. Frontiers in Public Health can be contacted at: Frontiers Media Sa, Avenue Du Tribunal Federal 34, Lausanne, Ch-1015, Switzerland.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Lingzhi Ding, School of International Pharmaceutical Business, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Xin Na, Junxia Wang and Shuzhen Chu.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1211350. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal Frontiers in Public Health is: Frontiers Media Sa, Avenue Du Tribunal Federal 34, Lausanne, Ch-1015, Switzerland.

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