New Data from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics Illuminate Research in Public Health (Health Benefits of Air Quality Improvement: Empirical Research Based on Medical Insurance Reimbursement Data): Health and Medicine – Public Health

2022 MAR 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in public health. According to news originating from Chengdu, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Measuring the health benefits of air quality improvement is a new perspective for evaluating government investment in pollution control.”

Financial supporters for this research include Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project Funder DOI: 10.13039/501100013314 Award: National Natural Science Foundation of China Funder DOI: 10.13039/501100001809 Award:.

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics: “Improving air quality can reduce the burden on medical insurance funds and patients themselves; however, patients with higher reimbursement rates are more affected by air quality changes. This study calculated health benefits using medical insurance reimbursement data from a sample city in China. The results show that for every 10 mg/m3 decrease in PM2.5, patients’ average medical cost will decrease by CNY 1,699 (USD 263.6), and the loss of ordinary working and living time will decrease by 1.24 days. PM2.5 has a more significant impact on patients with chronic respiratory diseases and inpatients with circulatory diseases. Suppose the city’s annual PM2.5 concentration drops to the national standard of 35 mg/m3.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “In that case, it will bring more than CNY 1.28 billion (USD 198 million) in health benefits, accounting for 18% of the city’s annual investment in environmental protection.”

For more information on this research see: Health Benefits of Air Quality Improvement: Empirical Research Based on Medical Insurance Reimbursement Data. Frontiers in Public Health, 2022,10. (Frontiers in Public Health - http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/public-health). The publisher for Frontiers in Public Health is Frontiers Media S.A.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.855457.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Ding Li, School of Public Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Han Xiao, Shuang Ma, Jiangxue Zhang.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)