scholarly journals Gender Differences in Health Insurance Coverage in China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Zhou ◽  
Shaoyang Zhao ◽  
Zhi Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Market Condition ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Education Group

Abstract Background: The Chinese government has been trying to build a universal public social health insurance (SHI) system since the early 2000s and has essentially achieved universal SHI coverage. By 2018, more than 97% of the entire Chinese population had SHI. However, there are still some obvious inequities in the SHI system. Methods: based on three datasets, we first use statistical methods to identify gender differences in health insurance. Next, we construct a simple multiple regression model to capture the differences in insurance coverage across age groups using the parameter of interaction terms for gender and age groups.Results: Based on data from a demographic survey that covers a large sample, we find that in the below 50 (in 2005) or 60 (in 2015) years age group, the coverage gap of urban employees' basic medical insurance (UEBMI) between men and women was relatively smaller, while a larger disparity existed in the above 50 (in 2005) or 60 (in 2015) group. Moreover, gender differences in health insurance were more pronounced in the low-education group, while no gender differences were found in the high-education group.Conclusions: This paper explains the gender gap in health insurance and the reason for the wider gap among older people. Our study indicates that because the UEBMI in China mainly covers people with formal jobs, a lower labor participation rate (even much lower in formal jobs) of women has led to their greater difficulty in obtaining health insurance. Since the older women’s greater difficulty in obtaining jobs or susceptibility to lay-offs during the period of the UEBMI’s implementation, the possibility of being covered was even much lower. In fact, it was because of the combined effects of the UEBMI system and the labor market condition at that time that older women had a lower proportion of being covered under the UEBMI.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Health Insurance Coverage in China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Zhou ◽  
Shaoyang Zhao ◽  
Zhi Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Health Insurance Coverage ◽  
Market Condition ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Education Group

Abstract Background: China initiated a reform of the health insurance system in the late 1990s. The new insurance, urban Employee basic medical insurance (UEBMI), is employment-based, which makes it more difficult than it used to be for those unemployed or informal employed (most of whom are women) to be covered by health insurance. Methods: based on three large sample of micro datasets, we first use statistical methods to identify gender differences in health insurance. Next, we construct a logistic regression model to capture the differences in insurance coverage across age groups using the parameter of interaction terms for gender and age groups.Results: Based on data from a demographic survey that covers a large sample, we find that in the below 50 (in 2005) or 60 (in 2015) years age group, the coverage gap of UEBMI between men and women was relatively smaller, while a larger disparity existed in the above 50 (in 2005) or 60 (in 2015) group. Moreover, gender differences in health insurance were more significant in the low-education group, while no gender differences were found in the high-education group.Conclusions: This paper explains the gender gap in health insurance and the reason for the wider gap among older people. Our study indicates that because the UEBMI in China mainly covers people with formal jobs, a lower labor participation rate (even much lower in formal jobs) of women has led to their greater difficulty in obtaining health insurance. Since the older women’s greater difficulty in obtaining jobs or susceptibility to lay-offs during the period of the UEBMI’s implementation, the possibility of being covered was even much lower. In fact, it was because of the combined effects of the UEBMI system and the labor market condition at that time that older women had a lower proportion of being covered under the UEBMI.

scholarly journals Gender differences in health insurance coverage in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Zhou ◽  
Shaoyang Zhao ◽  
Zhi Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Health Insurance Coverage ◽  
Market Condition ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Education Group

Abstract Background China initiated a reform of the health insurance system in the late 1990s. The new insurance, Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI), is employment-based, which makes it more difficult than it used to be for those unemployed or informal employed (most of whom are women) to be covered by health insurance. Methods Based on three large sample of micro datasets, we first use statistical methods to identify gender differences in health insurance. Next, we construct a logistic regression model to capture the differences in insurance coverage across age groups using the parameter of interaction terms for gender and age groups. Results Based on data from a demographic survey that covers a large sample, we find that in the below 50 (in 2005) or 60 (in 2015) years age group, the coverage gap of UEBMI between men and women was relatively smaller, while a larger disparity existed in the above 50 (in 2005) or 60 (in 2015) group. Moreover, gender differences in health insurance were more significant in the low-education group, while no gender differences were found in the high-education group. Conclusions This paper explains the gender gap in health insurance and the reason for the wider gap among older people. Our study indicates that because the UEBMI in China mainly covers people with formal jobs, a lower labor participation rate (even much lower in formal jobs) of women has led to their greater difficulty in obtaining health insurance. Since the older women’s greater difficulty in obtaining jobs or susceptibility to lay-offs during the period of the UEBMI’s implementation, the possibility of being covered was even much lower. In fact, it was because of the combined effects of the UEBMI system and the labor market condition at that time that older women had a lower proportion of being covered under the UEBMI.

scholarly journals Health problems awareness during travel among faculty members of a large university in Latin America: preliminary report

2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Nakamura Tome ◽  
Thaís Brandi Canello ◽  
Expedito José de Albuquerque Luna ◽  
Heitor Franco de Andrade Junior
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Health Safety

Health safety during trips is based on previous counseling, vaccination and prevention of infections, previous diseases or specific problems related to the destination. Our aim was to assess two aspects, incidence of health problems related to travel and the traveler's awareness of health safety. To this end we phone-interviewed faculty members of a large public University, randomly selected from humanities, engineering and health schools. Out of 520 attempts, we were able to contact 67 (12.9%) and 46 (68.6%) agreed to participate in the study. There was a large male proportion (37/44, 84.1%), mature adults mostly in their forties and fifties (32/44, 72.7%), all of them with higher education, as you would expect of faculty members. Most described themselves as being sedentary or as taking occasional exercise, with only 15.9% (7/44) taking regular exercise. Preexisting diseases were reported by 15 travelers. Most trips lasted usually one week or less. Duration of the travel was related to the destination, with (12h) or longer trips being taken by 68.2% (30/44) of travelers, and the others taking shorter (3h) domestic trips. Most travelling was made by air (41/44) and only 31.8% (14/44) of the trips were motivated by leisure. Field research trips were not reported. Specific health counseling previous to travel was reported only by two (4.5%). Twenty seven of them (61.4%) reported updated immunization, but 11/30 reported unchecked immunizations. 30% (9/30) reported travel without any health insurance coverage. As a whole group, 6 (13.6%) travelers reported at least one health problem attributed to the trip. All of them were males travelling abroad. Five presented respiratory infections, such as influenza and common cold, one neurological, one orthopedic, one social and one hypertension. There were no gender differences regarding age groups, destination, type of transport, previous health counseling, leisure travel motivation or pre-existing diseases. Interestingly, the two cases of previous health counseling were made by domestic travelers. Our data clearly shows that despite a significant number of travel related health problems, these highly educated faculty members, had a low awareness of those risks, and a significant number of travels are made without prior counseling or health insurance. A counseling program conducted by a tourism and health professional must be implemented for faculty members in order to increase the awareness of travel related health problems.

scholarly journals Inequality in Health Services for Internal Migrants in China: A National Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of Fund Location of Social Health Insurance

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 6327
Author(s):  
Qiang Yao ◽  
Chaojie Liu ◽  
Ju Sun
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Health Insurance Coverage ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Internal Migrants ◽  
Use Of Health Services

On-the-spot settlements of medical bills for internal migrants enrolled with a social health insurance program outside of their residential location have been encouraged by the Chinese government, with the intention to improve equality in healthcare services. This study compared the use of health services between the internal migrants who had local health insurance coverage and those who did not. Data (n = 144,956) were obtained from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey. Use of health services was assessed by two indicators: visits to physicians when needed and registration (shown as health records) for essential public health services. Multi-level logistic regression models were established to estimate the effect size of fund location on the use of health services after controlling for variations in other variables. The respondents who enrolled with a social health insurance scheme locally were more likely to visit physicians when needed (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06–1.30) and to have a health record (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.30–1.65) compared with those who enrolled outside of their residential location: a gap of 3.5 percentage points (95% CI: 1.3%–5.8%) and 6.1 percentage point (95% CI: 4.3%–7.8%), respectively. The gaps were larger in the rural-to-urban migrants than those in the urban-to-urban migrants (AOR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.93–1.48 for visiting physicians when needed; AOR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.54–0.93 for having a health record). The on-the-spot medical bill settlement system has yet to fully achieve its proposed potential as inequalities in both medical and public health services remain between the internal migrants with and without local health insurance coverage. Further studies are needed to investigate how on-the-spot settlements of medical bills are implemented through coordination across multiple insurance funds.

scholarly journals Impacts of the type of social health insurance on health service utilisation and expenditures: implications for a unified system in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si Ying Tan ◽  
Xun Wu ◽  
Wei Yang
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Service Utilisation ◽  
Provider Payment ◽  
Out Of Pocket Payments ◽  
The Impact

AbstractWhile moving towards unified social health insurance (SHI) is often a politically popular policy reform in countries where rapid expansion in health insurance coverage has given rise to the segmentation of SHI systems as different SHI schemes were rolled out to serve different populations, the potential impacts of reform on service utilisation and health costs have not been systematically studied. Using data from the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we compared the mean costs incurred for both inpatient and outpatient care under different health insurance schemes, and the impact of different SHI schemes on treatment utilisation and health care costs using a two-part model. Our results show that Urban Employee Medical Insurance, which offers the most generous benefits, incurs the highest total costs prior to reimbursement when compared to other SHI schemes. Our analysis also shows that utilisation of SHI did not show significant reduction in out-of-pocket payments for outpatients. We argue that, unless effective measures are introduced to deal with perverse provider payment incentives, the move towards a unified system with more generous benefits may usher in a new wave of cost escalation for health care systems in China.

Population Coverage to Reach Universal Health Coverage in Selected Nations: A Synthesis of Global Strategies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minoo ALIPOURI SAKHA ◽  
Najmeh BAHMANZIARI ◽  
Amirhossein TAKIAN
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Population Coverage ◽  
Definite Indicator ◽  
Expanding Population ◽  
Universal Health

Background: This study aimed to provide tailored transferrable lessons for expanding population coverage through a descriptive lens by reviewing the population coverage policies, reforms and strategies in selected nations. Methods: In this comparative short communication, 14 countries with different status of population coverage and political economy that had successful experiences with coverage expansion were selected and categorized in four groups to study their approaches to reach Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Results: Although each country needs to tailor its policies and reforms based on its own contextual factors, the legal right of citizens to social security and health protection are enshrined in most countries' Constitution. Some countries adapted political and economic reforms to evolve their Social Health Insurance schemes. National laws to push governments to adapt UHC as a national strategy for ensuring that every resident is enrolled in health insurance schemes are key policies to reach UHC. Conclusion: A series of reforms are required to provide total population coverage through various approaches. To create an effective insurance coverage, physical merger of all insurance funds is not necessarily required. Further, the share of GDP for health is not a definite indicator to reach UHC. Finally, strong political commitment and citizens’ participation are the key issues in reaching UHC, while considering the poorest, remote and neglected population really matters.  

Chinese residents’ educational disparity and social insurance coverage

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 746-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Han Lee ◽  
Timothy Chiang ◽  
Mack Shelley ◽  
Ching-Ti Liu
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Reform ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Medical Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Basic Medical Insurance ◽  
Basic Medical

Purpose The Chinese society has embraced rapid social reforms since the late twentieth century, including educational and healthcare systems. The Chinese Central Government launched an ambitious health reform program in 2009 to improve service quality and provide affordable health services, regardless of individual socio-economic status. Currently, the Chinese social health insurance includes Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance, Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance, and New Cooperative Medical Insurance for rural residents. The purpose of this paper is to measure the association between individual education level and China’s social health insurance scheme following the reform. Design/methodology/approach Using the latest (2011) China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data and multivariable logistic regression models with cross-sectional design (n=11,960), the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) are reported. Findings The authors found that education is associated with all social health insurance schemes in China after the reform (p<0.001). Residents with higher educational attainments, such as technical school (OR: 6.64, 95% CI: 5.44–8.13) or university and above (OR: 9.86, 95% CI: 8.14–11.96), are associated with UEBMI, compared with lower-educated individuals. Practical implications The Chinese Central Government announced a plan to combine all social health insurance schemes by 2020, except UEBMI, a plan with the most comprehensive financial package. Further research is needed to investigate potential disparities after unification. Policy makers should continue to evaluate China’s universal health coverage and social disparity. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate the association between residents’ educational attainment and three social health insurance schemes following the 2009 health reform. The authors suggest that educational attainment is still associated with each social health insurance coverage after the ambitious health reform.

scholarly journals Financial protection effects of private health insurance: experimental evidence from Chinese households with resident basic medical insurance

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian-zhi Fu
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Medical Insurance ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Financial Protection ◽  
Basic Medical Insurance ◽  
Basic Medical

Abstract Background After achieving universal basic medical insurance coverage, Chinese government put the development of private health insurance (PHI) on its agenda to further strengthen financial risk protection. This paper aims to assess the level of financial protection that PHI provides for its insured households on the basis of resident basic medical insurance (RBMI). Methods We employed balanced panel data collected between 2015 and 2017 from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS). Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and impoverishment due to health spending were applied to measure the financial protection effects. Random effects panel logistic regression model was performed to identify the factors associated with CHE and impoverishment among households covered by RBMI. In the robustness test, the method of propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to solve the problem of endogeneity. Results From 2015 to 2017, the CHE incidence increased from 12.96 to 14.68 % for all sampled households, while the impoverishment rate decreased slightly from 5.43 to 5.32 % for all sampled households. In 2015, the CHE incidence and impoverishment rate under RBMI + PHI were 4.53 and 0.72 %, respectively, which were lower than those under RBMI alone. A similar phenomenon was observed in 2017. Regression analysis also showed that the households with RBMI + PHI were significantly less likely to experience CHE (marginal effect: -0.054, 95 %CI: -0.075 to -0.034) and impoverishment (marginal effect: -0.049, 95 %CI: -0.069 to -0.028) compared to those with RBMI alone. The results were still robust after using PSM method to eliminate the effects of self-selection on the estimation results. Conclusions In the context of universal basic medical insurance coverage, the CHE incidence and impoverishment rate of Chinese households with RBMI were still considerably high in 2015 and 2017. PHI played a positive role in decreasing household financial risk on the basis of RBMI.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Children’s Non-Leisure Activities: A Decomposition Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Dayang Haszelinna Abang Ali ◽  
Rosita Hamdan ◽  
Audrey Liwan ◽  
Josephine Yau Tan Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Time Allocation ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Son Preference ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Indonesia Family Life Survey ◽  
Fourth Wave

The prevalence of son preference indicates that girls will have less leisure time compared to boys. This study aims to examine gender differences in weekly hours in schooling, housework, and working among children in Indonesia using Tobit Model and decomposition model of Bauer & Sinning (2005), to test whether son preference explains the differences. The dataset was drawn from the fourth wave of Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) in 2007. The results show significant gender differences in housework and working for children aged 5–14 years and insignificant gender gap in schooling for both age groups. These results confirm the existence of gender differences among younger children compared to older children in their time allocation.

Healthcare System Challenges in Asia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnie Yip
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health System ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Equitable Access ◽  
Financial Risk Protection ◽  
Risk Protection

Important health system challenges in the east and southeast Asian countries/territories of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia exist. The most commonly adopted health system among these areas is social health insurance. The high-income, aging societies of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have adopted single-payer/single-pipe systems with a single uniform benefit package and a single fee schedule for paying providers for services included in the benefit package. All three have achieved universal coverage with relatively equitable access to affordable care. All grapple with overutilization, aging populations, and hospital-centric and curative-focused care that is ill-suited for addressing an increasing chronic disease burden. Rising patient expectations and demand for expensive technologies contribute to rising costs. Korea also faces comparatively poorer financial risk protection. China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines have also adopted social health insurance, though not single-payer systems. China and Thailand have established noncontributory schemes, whereby the government heavily subsidizes poor and non-poor populations. General tax revenue is used to extend coverage to those outside formal-sector employment. Both countries use multiple, unintegrated schemes to cover their populations. Thailand has improved access to care and financial risk protection. While China has improved insurance coverage, financial risk protection gains have been limited due to low levels of service coverage, fee-for-service payment systems, poor gatekeeping, and the fee schedule that incentivizes overprescription of tests and medicine. Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines use contributory schemes. Government revenue provides insurance coverage for the poor, near-poor, and selected vulnerable populations; the rest of the population must contribute to enroll. Therefore, expanding insurance coverage to the informal sector has been a significant challenge. Instead of social health insurance, Hong Kong and Malaysia have two-tiered health systems where the public sector is financed by general tax revenue and the private sector is financed primarily by out-of-pocket payments and limited private insurance. There is universal access to care; free or subsidized, good-quality public-sector services provide financial risk protection. However, Hong Kong and Malaysia have fragmented delivery systems, weak primary care, budgetary strains, and inequitable access to private care (which may offer shorter wait times and better perceived quality). Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar’s health systems feature high out-of-pocket spending, low government investment in health, and reliance on external aid. User fees, low insurance coverage, unequal distribution of health services, and fragmented financing pose pressing challenges to achieving equitable access and adequate financial risk protection. These countries/territories are diverse in terms of demographics, epidemiological profiles, and stages of economic development, and thus they face different health system challenges and opportunities. This diversity also suggests that these nations/territories will utilize different types of health systems to achieve universal health coverage, whereby all people have equitable access to affordable, good-quality care with adequate financial risk protection.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document