New Health Insurance Study Findings Reported from University of Jinan (Effects of asymmetric medical insurance subsidy on hospitals competition under…

New Health Insurance Study Findings Reported from University of Jinan (Effects of asymmetric medical insurance subsidy on hospitals competition under non-price regulation)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Fresh data on Health Insurance are presented in a new report. According to news originating from Guangdong, People's Republic of China, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "Poor medical care and high fees are two major problems in the world health care system. As a result, health care insurance system reform is a major issue in developing countries, such as China."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Jinan, "Governments should take the effect of health care insurance system reform on the competition of hospitals into account when they practice a reform. This article aims to capture the influences of asymmetric medical insurance subsidy and the importance of medical quality to patients on hospitals competition under non-price regulation. We establish a three-stage duopoly model with quantity and quality competition. In the model, qualitative difference and asymmetric medical insurance subsidy among hospitals are considered. The government decides subsidy (or reimbursement) ratios in the first stage. Hospitals choose the quality in the second stage and then support the quantity in the third stage. We obtain our conclusions by mathematical model analyses and all the results are achieved by backward induction. The importance of medical quality to patients has stronger influence on the small hospital, while subsidy has greater effect on the large hospital. Meanwhile, the importance of medical quality to patients strengthens competition, but subsidy effect weakens it. Besides, subsidy ratios difference affects the relationship between subsidy and hospital competition. Furthermore, we capture the optimal reimbursement ratio based on social welfare maximization. More importantly, this paper finds that the higher management efficiency of the medical insurance investment funds is, the higher the best subsidy ratio is. This paper states that subsidy is a two-edged sword. On one hand, subsidy stimulates medical demand. On the other hand, subsidy raises price and inhibits hospital competition. Therefore, government must set an appropriate subsidy ratio difference between large and small hospitals to maximize the total social welfare."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "For a developing country with limited medical resources and great difference in hospitals such as China, adjusting the reimbursement ratios between different level hospitals and increasing medical quality are two reasonable methods for the sustainable development of its health system."

For more information on this research see: Effects of asymmetric medical insurance subsidy on hospitals competition under non-price regulation. International Journal for Equity in Health, 2016;15():1-9. International Journal for Equity in Health can be contacted at: Biomed Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; International Journal for Equity in Health - www.equityhealthj.com)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from C. Wang, Jinan Univ, Inst Ind Econ, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong, People's Republic of China (see also Health Insurance).

Keywords for this news article include: Guangdong, People's Republic of China, Asia, Medical Insurance, Health Insurance, Hospital, University of Jinan.

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2016, NewsRx LLC