The Effect of Health Insurance Participation on the Health and Healthcare Utilization of Migrant Workers in China
Read
DownLoad |
| Title | The Effect of Health Insurance Participation on the Health and Healthcare Utilization of Migrant Workers in China
|
| Author | Qin Xuezheng, Liu Gordon G. and Wang Xin |
| Organization | School of Economics, Peking University; Guanghua School of Management, Peking University; |
| Email | qin.econpku@gmail.com，gordon@gsm.pku.edu.cn，wangxin.pkuecon@gmail.com |
| Key Words | Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI); Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI); New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS); Migrant Workers |
| Abstract | Rural-to-urban migrant workers are an under-represented group in the health insurance system in China, and the status of their health and healthcare utilization has been paid increasing attention by the society. This paper uses the 2007-2010 State Council URBMI Household Survey data to evaluate the efficacy of major health insurance platforms on solving the “difficult and expensive care” problem among the migrant workers. We apply the 3A (Accessibility, Affordability & Appropriateness) framework to answer 3 main questions: does participating in the health insurance programs help to alleviate migrant workers’ financial burden of healthcare? Does it provide better access to formal healthcare? Does it ultimately improve their health status? After controlling for the endogeneity of insurance participation, our results indicate that the Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) and the Government Employee Medical Insurance (GEMI) are effective in lowering the inpatient and outpatient cost burden, increasing the number of physical exams, and improving the self-rated-health for the migrant workers, while the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS), the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) and the commercial health insurance shows significant benefit in boosting the health awareness and preventive care utilization. However, due to the lack of systematic financing scheme for outpatient care and the segmentation between insurance programs, the current policies have not effectively addressed the problem of high out-of-pocket cost and under-utilization among the migrant workers. |
| Serial Number | WP221 |
| Time | 2012-02-16 |
|