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| Medical Consumption Behavior of Rural Elderly under the Strategy of “Healthy China”——Based on the Perspective of Income Inequality and Basic Medical Insurance |
| Xiang Yunhua Hu Tiantian |
| Center for Social Security Studies， Wuhan University， Wuhan 430072 |
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Abstract Under the background of increasing coverage of basic medical insurance， income inequality still exists in the health behaviors of the elderly in rural areas in China， and the direct manifestation is the difference in medical behaviors. Based on this， from the perspective of income inequality and basic medical insurance， this paper attempts to use the data from the 2018 Chinese Family Tracking Survey Database to empirically test the differences in medical consumption behaviors of rural elderly in China and their main impact paths. The results of the study show that income inequality has a significant negative effect on rural elderly's choice of medical treatment， while rural elderly who enjoy urban employee medical insurance， urban resident medical insurance and NCMS have a significant positive effect on their medical treatment or hospitalization tendency. Income inequality has significantly increased the probability that older people will choose a primary-level infirmary or a private clinic， but the role of basic medical insurance is reversed. In addition， income inequality and access to basic medical insurance have no significant impact on the medical consumption of the elderly， but hospitalization consumption has significantly enhanced the trend of elderly health. According to the research conclusions， this paper attempts to put forward corresponding policy thinking from the aspects of income inequality formation mechanism， basic medical insurance out-of-pocket expenses and allocation of primary medical resources.
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Received: 17 September 2020
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2020, Vol. 59 
