Pension and Health Services Utilization: Evidence from Social Pension Expansion in China

Shanquan Chen, Xi Chen, Stephen Law, Henry Lucas, Shenlan Tang (), Qian Long, Lei Xue () and Zheng Wang ()
Additional contact information
Shanquan Chen: University of Cambridge
Stephen Law: University of Sydney
Henry Lucas: University of Sussex
Shenlan Tang: Duke University
Qian Long: Duke Kunshan University
Lei Xue: Tsinghua University
Zheng Wang: Tsinghua University

No 13876, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The proportion of people aged 60 years or over is growing faster than other age groups. The well-being older adults depend heavily on their state of health. This study evaluates the effects of pensions on older adults' health service utilization, and estimates the size of pension required to influence such utilization. Using a nationally representative survey, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we adopted a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and undertook segmented regression analysis. Pension demonstrated heterogeneous effects on health service utilization by income. We show that pension encouraged low-income individuals to use both outpatient (OR = 1.219, 95% 1.018-1.460) and inpatient services (OR = 1.269, 95% 1.020-1.579). In the meantime, it promoted self-treatment, specifically over-the-counter (OR = 1.208, 95% 1.037-1.407; OR = 1.206, 95% 1.024-1.419; respectively) and traditional Chinese medicines (OR = 1.452, 95% 1.094-1.932; OR = 1.456, 95% 1.079-1.955; respectively) among all income groups. However, receiving a pension had no effect on the frequency of outpatient or inpatient service use. Breakpoints for pension to promote health service utilization were mainly located in the range 55-95 CNY (7.1-12.3 EUR or 8.0-13.8 USD). Our study enriches the literature on pension and healthcare-seeking behaviour, and can be helpful in policy design and model formulation.

Keywords: regression discontinuity design; health services utilization; pension; segmented regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H55 I11 I18 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2020-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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Published - published in: BMC Health Services Research, 2020, 20, 1008

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Working Paper: Pension and Health Services Utilization: Evidence from Social Pension Expansion in China (2020)
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