Income Inequality,Medical Insurance And The Health Of The Elderly ——An Empirical Analysis Based On Zenga Index

With the continuous improvement of medical treatment,the number of elderly people in China is increasing and the mortality rate is decreasing.Every four seconds,a person turns 60,and China has entered the era of silver hair.In May 2021,the National Bureau of statistics released the results of the seventh national census.The results showed that 264.02 million people were over 60 years old,accounting for18.70% of the national population（including 190.64 million people over 65 years old,accounting for 13.50%of the national population）.The elderly play an extremely important role in society.Improving the overall health level of the elderly will help alleviate the social security pressure brought by the aging society to China.The factors affecting the health of the elderly include living environment,individual differences,social economy and so on.The income inequality is an important reason affecting the health inequality.This paper uses ordered probit model and simultaneous equation model to analyze the impact of income inequality and medical insurance on the health level of the elderly.The research contents are as follows:Based on the existing research and using the CHARLS survey data in 2018,this paper makes a descriptive statistical analysis on the current situation of family per capita income and the health status of the elderly,and analyzes the distribution of self-rated health status and life satisfaction,family per capita income and medical insurance reimbursement ratio of the elderly with different characteristics.The Zenga index is used as the alternative variable of income inequality,and the ordered probit model is used to analyze the impact of income inequality and medical insurance on the health of the elderly.And verify whether savings can replace accumulated income,analyze whether savings,as an alternative variable of accumulated income,will have an impact on the health of the elderly,and use simultaneous equation model to solve the endogenous problem caused by two-way causality.Finally,according to the results of this analysis,policy suggestions are put forward to improve the health level of the elderly and alleviate income inequality.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:The more unequal the per capita income of families,the worse the health status of the elderly.The health status of the elderly in China has an inverted U-shaped relationship with Zenga index.Medical insurance can improve the health level of the elderly.Income inequality will lead to unfair medical insurance and indirectly affect the health of the elderly in urban and rural areas.Savings are negatively correlated with the health score of the elderly.Savings can weaken the impact of income inequality on the health of the elderly.Savings are an alternative variable of accumulated income,but savings can not indirectly affect the health of the elderly through medical insurance.