Research On The Integration Of Urban-rural Medical Insurance System

Medical insurance is not only the basic guaranty of urban and rural residents’ health and the inherent requirement of the urban-rural areas’ overall development, but also one of the significant targets of building harmonious society. At present, with the constant efforts in practice since the reform and opening up policy, China has successively set up three basic medical insurance system, including the medical insurance for town workers, the new rural cooperative medical insurance, and the medical insurance for urban residents with no jobs, which collectively constitute the medical security system together with the medical assistance system. The whole system plays an important role in meeting the primary demand of residents’ medical requirement, easing the difficulties of getting to a doctor, and reducing the high cost when see a doctor to some extent. However, the long-standing dualistic urban-rural economic and social structure makes the duality characteristic of medical security, leading to the divided situation of medical insurance system in rural and urban areas. All sorts of problems follow in the operation of medical insurance system, such as "crack" in system cohesion, unequal distribution of health resources, etc. In addition, the trend of aging population is more and more obvious, and plenty of migrant workers move into cities, turning into "new citizens". All of these complex situations makes it appear more important and urgent that we should speed up to integrate the urban-rural medical insurance system, making members of the whole society enjoy the equal right of medical security.Firstly, basing on the theory of market failure, Rawls’s theory of justice, the theory of Marx on fairness, and new public management theory, this dissertation analyses the defects caused by the division of urban-rural medical insurance system, discusses the necessity of speeding up the pace of system integration, expounds the important role that government should play in the process of system integration. And then with the latest data for support, it introduces the basic condition of medical insurance system in Shandong province, analyses the problems of the coordination of urban-rural medical insurance. Secondly, through the comparative analysis, it introduces the medical insurance system of UK, Germany, the United States and India, and learns the useful experience according to China’s national conditions. Finally, after the discussion on principles of Government-dominated, Fairness, and the Rigidity of Welfare,which we should adhere in the integration of urban-rural medical insurance system, it explores the specific integration route, and puts forward relevant countermeasures according to the existing problems, looking forward to establishing the unified urban-rural medical insurance system as soon as possible, so as to promote the coordinated development of economy and society, realize the great goal that everyone has access to basic medical and health security in the year of2020.