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Health Insurance and Health Status: Exploring the Causal Effect from a Policy Intervention

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  • Jay Pan
  • Xiaoyan Lei
  • Gordon G. Liu

Abstract

Whether health insurance matters for health has long been a central issue for debate when assessing the full value of health insurance coverage in both developed and developing countries. In 2007, the government‐led Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) program was piloted in China, followed by a nationwide implementation in 2009. Different premium subsidies by government across cities and groups provide a unique opportunity to employ the instrumental variables estimation approach to identify the causal effects of health insurance on health. Using a national panel survey of the URBMI, we find that URBMI beneficiaries experience statistically better health than the uninsured. Furthermore, the insurance health benefit appears to be stronger for groups with disadvantaged education and income than for their counterparts. In addition, the insured receive more and better inpatient care, without paying more for services. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Jay Pan & Xiaoyan Lei & Gordon G. Liu, 2016. "Health Insurance and Health Status: Exploring the Causal Effect from a Policy Intervention," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(11), pages 1389-1402, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i:11:p:1389-1402
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3225
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    13. Huan Liu & Weidong Dai, 2020. "An Empirical Study on the Benefits Equity of the Medical Security Policy: the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
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    15. Huang, Xian & Wu, Bingxiao, 2020. "Impact of urban-rural health insurance integration on health care: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
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    17. Wei Si, 2021. "Public health insurance and the labor market: Evidence from China's Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 403-431, February.
    18. Claire E. Boone & Pablo A. Celhay & Paul Gertler & Tadeja Gracner, 2023. "Encouraging Preventative Care to Manage Chronic Disease at Scale," NBER Working Papers 31643, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    21. Liyong Lu & Jay Pan, 2021. "Does hospital competition lead to medical equipment expansion? Evidence on the medical arms race," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 582-596, September.

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