The impact of medical insurance on medical expenses for older Chinese: Evidence from the national baseline survey of CLHLS

With the deepening population aging process in China, the medical expenses of older adults has become a widespread concerned. Medical insurance is a major source of Chinese medical financing and payment. The study aims to understand the current status of medical expenses for older adults and explore the effect of different types of health insurance on medical expenses in China. The data came from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2014. The Kruskal–Wallis test and general multivariate linear regression model were applied to analyze the current situation and to explore how medical insurance as the main payment impacts medical expenses. A total of 4376 older participants were included in this study. The median of medical expenses of a total was 1500 Yuan per year. The proportions of participants who had the urban employee-based basic medical insurance (UE-BMI), the urban residents basic medical insurance (UR-BMI), the new rural cooperative medical insurance scheme (NCMS), and the commercial medical insurance were 10.8%, 8.4%, 72.7%, and 0.9%, respectively. 34.8% of older adults paid the health care service via the NCMS and 11.9% paid via the UE-BMI. Participating in the NCMS and UR-BMI are significantly related to the level of the medical fees of older adults. UE-BMI, UR-BMI, and NCMS as main payment eased the pressure of medical expenses. The influence of different types of medical insurances as main payments on the medical expenses of older adults is varied. Implementation of medical insurance should be taken to further relieve the medical expenses of older adults.