Study Findings on Public Health Described by Researchers at King’s College London (Slipping Through the Gap: Exploring the Influence of Social Health Insurance on Access to Healthcare for Older Migrant Workers): Health and Medicine – Public Health

2024 MAR 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on public health are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from London, United Kingdom, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Older migrant workers (OMWs) frequently confront barriers to accessing care, as their Social Health Insurance (SHI) coverage may not extend beyond their hometown.”

The news editors obtained a quote from the research from King’s College London: “This study seeks to investigate whether Chinese OMWs can still derive benefits from SHI in accessing healthcare services, even when their SHI is not registered in the same location as their current residence. This study used data from 2015 China Migrants Dynamic Survey and focused on OMWs aged 60 years and older (N = 3,050). Logistic regression models were employed to investigate the factors influencing healthcare use. Having SHI registered in current place of residence and interprovincial migration were significantly associated with increased likelihoods of doctor visits among OMWs. However, inpatient services use did not appear to be associated with the SHI registration place and migration range.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Chinese OMWs derive fewer benefits from SHI in accessing healthcare services when their SHI is not registered in current residence. Governments in Low- and Middle-Income Countries should consider implementing targeted policies to provide adequate protection for OMWs and expand the coverage of direct reimbursement for cross-province healthcare services.”

For more information on this research see: Slipping Through the Gap: Exploring the Influence of Social Health Insurance on Access to Healthcare for Older Migrant Workers. International Journal of Public Health, 2024,69. The publisher for International Journal of Public Health is Frontiers Media S.A.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2024.1606655.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Chengxu Long, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom. Additional authors for this research include Wei Yang, Shangfeng Tang.

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