Impact of supplementary private health insurance on hospitalization and physical examination in China

Yawen Jiang and Weiyi Ni

China Economic Review, 2020, vol. 63, issue C

Abstract: Private health insurance (PHI) is considered an important supplement to the basic social health insurance schemes in the Chinese healthcare system. However, whether the strategy of engaging PHI as supplementary coverage is effective cannot be determined without knowing the impact of supplementary PHI on healthcare access and utilization, the evidence on which is currently absent in China. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of supplementary PHI on hospitalization and physical examination to provide such evidence in the Chinese setting. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the 2015 wave of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Using probit models and bivariate probit models with instrumental variables (IVs), we evaluated the effects of supplementary PHI on the utilization of hospitalization and physical examination. Our analyses provided evidence that supplementary PHI increased the probability of physical examination but decreased that of hospitalization.

Keywords: Private health insurance; China; Hospitalization; Preventive care; Supplementary coverage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:63:y:2020:i:c:s1043951x20301115

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2020.101514

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