Medical Insurance Impact On Middle-aged Medical Expenditures

With the increasing proportion of the aged population,China has gradually stepped into an "aging society".The growth of the population is often accompanied by the consumption of health stock.The demand for medical and health services of middle-aged and elderly people is higher,and the medical expenditure in aging countries will be higher.The excessive medical burden will not only add economic pressure to residents’ family life but even endanger the healthy development of a social economy.To disperse residents’ disease risks,China has successively introduced various medical insurance modes,such as medical insurance for urban employees,medical insurance for urban and rural residents,etc.After decades of development,the coverage rate of China’s medical insurance system is as high as 97.8%.What impact will participate in medical insurance have on residents’ medical expenses,and can it alleviate residents’ medical burden? This paper mainly studies the influence and heterogeneity of China’s current medical insurance system for urban and rural residents on residents’ medical expenditure,which provides a theoretical reference for solving the problems of "spurt" growth of medical expenditure,improving residents’ health status,improving medical insurance system and so on under the background of population aging,and is conducive to promoting the maximum utility of medical insurance,realizing healthy aging and increasing social welfare.Based on the latest micro-data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS),this paper uses Anderson’s medical service utilization model and other theories to build a variable index system,starting with absolute index and relative index,selecting the total medical expenditure,family medical economic burden and other indicators,and according to the data characteristics,Two models,Heckman’s sample selection model and generalized linear model(GLM)were used to analyze the crowdingout effect of medical insurance on the total medical expenditure of middle-aged and elderly people and the reducing effect on the medical burden of middle-aged and elderly people’s families by regression analysis.The urban-rural heterogeneity and gender heterogeneity of medical insurance were studied by sub-sample regression combined with individual residential address types and gender differences.The results show that participating in the medical insurance for urban and rural residents can significantly reduce the total medical expenses and reduce the financial pressure of family medical care.Moreover,male middle-aged and elderly people benefit more from the medical insurance system for urban and rural residents,while rural middle-aged and elderly people need a more generous compensation system.Based on the above research conclusions,this paper puts forward the following policy suggestions: First,further expand the coverage of the medical insurance system for urban and rural residents,especially guide more residents with a history of chronic diseases to participate in medical insurance,stabilize the financial burden of medical care,and promote equal health opportunities;Second,it is necessary to give more generous subsidies to vulnerable groups such as rural residents and low-income people,guarantee their right to medical treatment,and improve the effectiveness and fairness of the medical insurance system;Third,improve the supporting mechanism of medical insurance for urban and rural residents as soon as possible,and establish and improve a fairer social medical insurance mechanism that is compatible with the current social and economic development level,purchasing power level and people’s health level in China,such as promoting and improving the long-term care insurance policy,etc.Fourth,strengthen health publicity and education,guide middle-aged and elderly people to actively participate in physical exercise,establish good living habits,improve national health awareness and immunity,prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases,and promote healthy aging.