Status of public–private partnership recognition and willingness to pay for private health care in China

Objectives The Chinese government has been increasingly engaging and interacting with the private sectors to initiate public–private partnerships (PPPs) to enhance the capacity of the health care system. Thus, the availability of private health services and copays are increasing. However, Chinese residents appear to be more accustomed to public health care because it has long been the dominant health service provider in China. Therefore, learning how the Chinese recognize PPPs, whether they would like to use private health services and how much they are willing to pay out of pocket are important for policymakers. Methods A bibliographical search was performed through PubMed in Medline, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and key government websites using a combination of keywords from seminal papers on PPPs and then sequentially added “willingness to pay (WTP), health, and private.” The papers selected were closely related to PPPs and WTP for health care in China, and then, over 100 peer‐reviewed literature, opinion, or commentary papers and postgraduate theses on the particular topics were carefully reviewed. Results Out of 139 papers closely related to WTP for private health care, 37 were extensively reviewed and substantially analyzed. The results corroborate that Chinese residents are generally willing to pay for high‐risk disease screening, improved therapies, and health insurance, although the WTP intentions and the amounts they are willing to pay are different among distinct populations for the various types of health services. The results also present conditions that the responders are not explicitly willing to pay for or are willing to pay additional fees for their health promotion. Education level, family per capita income, self‐reported health status, and dwelling districts (such as urban or rural residents) are the main factors that affect cost‐sharing intention. Conclusions PPPs are increasingly recognized as an effective means to mobilize resources in the private sector to relieve the pressure/burden placed on the public system during medical reform in China. Responders in China are generally willing to pay reasonable fees out of pocket for primary health care services or for improved therapies; however, cost‐sharing intentions are affected by multiple factors. Health‐related policymakers should learn the general health concerns/demands of the residents and their WTP status to perfect the design of PPPs for the benefit of the majority population in China.