Research On The Impact Of The Policy Of Combined Implementation Of The Two Insurances On The Coverage Of Maternity Insurance

In January 2017,the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on the Implementation of the Pilot Program for the Combined Implementation of Maternity Insurance and Basic Medical Insurance for Employees."This policy requires the combined implementation of two types of insurance in 12 cities on a trial basis.In March 2019,the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Combined Implementation of Maternity Insurance and Basic Medical Insurance for Employees."The combined implementation of the two types of insurance needs to be implemented nationwide.The combined implementation of the two insurances is the most important structural reform since the establishment of maternity insurance.The main purpose of this policy is to expand the coverage of maternity insurance and improve the efficiency of insurance operations.However,whether in the pilot period or not,the increase in the number of people participating in maternity insurance after the implementation of the two insurances is far lower than expected.What is the net impact of the combined implementation of the two insurance policy on the coverage of maternity insurance?Why is the increase in coverage of maternity insurance much lower than the government’s expectations after the implementation of the policy of combining the two insurances across the country?Does the impact of this policy on the coverage of maternity insurance behave differently in different pilot regions?Answering these questions can accurately understand the policy objectives of the two insurance combined implementation policy and guide the implementation of this policy across the country.This paper collects city-level panel data from 2008 to 2018.These data are used to analyze the net effect of the combine of the two insurances on maternity insurance coverage using synthetic control method(SCM).The results of the study show that the combined implementation of the two insurances in 2017 increased the coverage of maternity insurance by 10.30%,and the impact in 2018 was 8.45%.The effect of policy intervention is obvious.The estimation result of the difference in difference method shows that the average value of the policy effect of the combined implementation of the two insurances in the six pilot cities is relatively small.After the implementation of this policy,the increase in coverage of maternity insurance in Hefei is much higher than in other pilot cities.The impact of this policy on maternity insurance coverage is immediate.After the implementation of the policy,the coverage of maternity insurance will increase immediately.The analysis in this paper finds that the principle of this policy to increase the coverage of maternity insurance is to make the non-retired employee medical insurance participants participate in maternity insurance if he did not participate in maternity insurance before the implementation of this policy.The policy impact is very significant in Hefei,but the policy effect is not obvious in other pilot cities,and the policy impact is also not obvious after the policy is implemented nationwide.The reasonable explanation for these phenomena is that flexible employees are not explicitly included in this policy,and these flexible employees cannot enjoy maternity benefits in many places.According to the empirical results obtained in this article,the goal of this policy is to overcome difficulties in management,reduce management costs,and combine the two insurance funds into one.The goal of increasing maternity insurance coverage has not been fully achieved.The suggestion of this article is to require all non-retired employee medical insurance participants to participate in maternity insurance(regardless of whether the employee is unemployed or whether he is a flexible employment person).All non-retired employee pension insurance participants must gradually participate in maternity insurance.Finally,all people working in the city are required to participate in maternity insurance.At the same time,the policy provides maternity benefits for all persons who have participated in maternity insurance(regardless of whether they are flexible employees or not).Policies should promote all people working in cities(especially those with flexible employment)to participate in employee medical insurance to improve their welfare benefits.