Did More Generous Health Insurance Improve Health Outcomes of The Elderly? Evidence From China
Abstract Background: Catastrophic Medical Insurance (CMI) has been piloted in China Since 2012 and gradually implemented in various regions. Most studies focus on its impact on medical economic risks, and few studies discussed the impact of CMI on health of the elderly.Methods: This study used Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) data to explore the impact of CMI on health of the elderly. Difference-in-differences (DID) and Propensity score matching-DID were employed to study the health impact of CMI. Heckman selection model was used to study the potential mechanisms.Results: We found that the implementation of CMI improved the mental health of the elderly, and the effect was limited. Moreover, the positive effect of CMI on the health of the elderly was mainly in the high-income group, and CMI had no significant effect on any health indicators of the low-income group population. The potential channel of CMI health improvement was its ability to increase hospitalization rate in the elderly. Conclusions: Therefore, the health promotion and equity of CMI deserve more attention, and the compensation level of CMI needs to be improved under the premise of sustainable and effective supervision of the fund.