The Effect of Medical Insurance on Outpatient Visits by the Elderly: An Empirical Study with China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Data.

BACKGROUND: As the largest developing country in the world, China is still on its way towards building an adequate system of health insurance through continuous reforms. For the elderly in China, an effective medical security system might be especially helpful.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the effect of medical insurance on outpatient visits by elderly Chinese in order to identify effective policies to improve the Chinese medical security system.

METHODS: Based on data taken from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, eleven candidate models were analyzed, among which a finite mixture negative binomial model with two components was chosen as the theoretical foundation for an analysis of the effect of medical insurance on outpatient visits by elderly Chinese.

RESULTS: The significant variables were found to be basic medical insurance (BMI), sex, surveyed area, education level, health status, economic area, income level, and the number of living children for the elderly aged 60-69 years; BMI, age, health status, number of household members, and income level for the elderly aged 70-79 years; and BMI, age, sex, and the presence of chronic disease for the elderly aged 80 years and above.

CONCLUSION: Enrollment in BMI was found to be significantly associated with an increased number of outpatient visits, whereas supplementary medical insurance membership did not have a significant effect. The effects of BMI enrollment also differed by scheme and age. For those with a high rate of outpatient medical services utilization, the enhancing effect of BMI on the number of outpatient visits was not significant, so new medical insurance policies should be provided to the elderly population in China.