Outpatient Visits among Older Adults Living Alone in China: Does Health Insurance and City of Residence Matter?

Jianyun Wang, Yaolin Pei, Renyao Zhong and Bei Wu
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Jianyun Wang: School of Public Administration, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
Yaolin Pei: Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, 433 First Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
Renyao Zhong: School of Public Administration, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
Bei Wu: Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, 433 First Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: This study aimed to examine the association between health insurance, city of residence, and outpatient visits among older adults living alone in China. A sample of 3173 individuals was derived from “Survey on Older Adults Aged 70 and Above Living Alone in Urban China” in five different cities. Logistic regression models indicated that older adults living alone who had urban employee basic medical insurance, urban resident basic medical insurance, and public medical insurance were more likely to have outpatient visits than those without any health insurance. After controlling the number of chronic diseases, only those with public medical insurance were more likely to have outpatient visits than uninsured older adults. Additionally, older adults who resided in Shanghai and Guangzhou were more likely to have outpatient visits than those in Chengdu, whereas older adults who were in Dalian and Hohhot were less likely to have outpatient visits. To improve the equity of outpatient visits among older adults living alone in China, policy efforts should be made to reduce fragmentation of different health insurance plans, expand the health insurance coverage for older adults, provide programs that consider the needs of this special group of older adults, and reduce the inequality in health resources and health insurance policies across cities.

Keywords: outpatient visits; older adults living alone; health insurance; cities of residence; inequalities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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