New Health Services Research Study Findings Have Been Reported by Researchers at Shandong University (Does the new cooperative medical scheme reduce…

Health & Medicine Week

New Health Services Research Study Findings Have Been Reported by Researchers at Shandong University (Does the new cooperative medical scheme reduce inequality in catastrophic health expenditure in rural China?)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Week -- Investigators publish new report on Health and Medicine - Health Services Research. According to news reporting from Jinan, People's Republic of China, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "In 2003, the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) was introduced in China to re-establish health insurance for the country's vast rural population. In addition, the coverage of NCMS has been expanding after the new health care reform launched in 2009."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Shandong University, "This study aims to examine whether the NCMS and its recent expansion have reached the goal of reducing the risk and inequality of catastrophic health spending for rural residents in China. We conducted a face-to-face household survey in three counties of the Shandong province in 2009 and 2012. Using this unique panel data, we examined the changes in the incidence and intensity of catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) before and after NCMS reimbursement. We used concentration index (CI) and decomposition method to study the changes in inequality in CHEs. We found that NCMS reimbursement played a role of reducing both the incidence and intensity of CHEs, and that this impact was stronger after the new health care reform was launched. After reimbursement, the concentration indices for CHEs were 0.073 and 0.021 in 2009 and 2012, indicating that the rich had a greater tendency to incur CHEs and there existed less inequality in the incidence of CHEs after reimbursement in 2012 compared with 2009. The decomposition analysis results suggested that changes in CHE inequality between 2009 and 2012 were attributed to changes in economic status and household size rather than reimbursement levels. Our results indicated that inequality was shrinking from 2009 to 2012, which could be a result of fewer rich people having CHEs in 2012 compared with 2009. The impact of NCMS in alleviating the financial burden of rural residents was still limited, especially among the poor."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Health care reform policies in China that aim to reduce CHEs must continue to place an emphasis on improving reimbursement, cost containment, and reducing income inequalities."

For more information on this research see: Does the new cooperative medical scheme reduce inequality in catastrophic health expenditure in rural China? BMC Health Services Research, 2016;16():1-11. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Biomed Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J. Wang, Shandong University, Sch Public Hlth, Jinan, People's Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include T. Iversen, M.S. Lu, J. Wang and L.W. Shi (see also Health and Medicine - Health Services Research).

Keywords for this news article include: Jinan, People's Republic of China, Asia, Health Services Research, Health and Medicine, China, Asia, Shandong University.