IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ijhplm/v34y2019i4pe1661-e1674.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

China's policy experimentation on long‐term care insurance: Implications for access

Author

Listed:
  • Yumei Zhu
  • August Österle

Abstract

China's population is aging rapidly, while the traditional long‐term care (LTC) system that heavily relies on families is eroding. In response, China has embarked on a journey of policy experimentation for long‐term care insurance (LTCI) since 2016, launching LTCI pilots in 15 pioneer cities. These pilots have a great diversity in participation, eligibility, and provision. This paper estimates the prevalence of LTC needs and analyzes the impact of the LTCI pilots on access. Although substantial progress has been achieved, the overall coverage of LTCI is still relatively small, and a large proportion of vulnerable people needing LTC seem to be left behind because of the strict eligibility criteria. This analysis suggests that future policy experimentation on LTCI reform in China needs to address the following pressing policy issues: expanding the coverage of LTCI; narrowing rural–urban disparities in access; improving access for vulnerable subpopulations; and reducing the heavy reliance on institutional care.

Suggested Citation

  • Yumei Zhu & August Österle, 2019. "China's policy experimentation on long‐term care insurance: Implications for access," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 1661-1674, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijhplm:v:34:y:2019:i:4:p:e1661-e1674
    DOI: 10.1002/hpm.2879
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.2879
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hpm.2879?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chuanchuan Zhang & Xiaoyan Lei & John Strauss & Yaohui Zhao, 2017. "Health Insurance and Health Care among the Mid‐Aged and Older Chinese: Evidence from the National Baseline Survey of CHARLS," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 431-449, April.
    2. Rhee, Jong Chul & Done, Nicolae & Anderson, Gerard F., 2015. "Considering long-term care insurance for middle-income countries: comparing South Korea with Japan and Germany," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(10), pages 1319-1329.
    3. Goddard, Maria & Smith, Peter, 2001. "Equity of access to health care services: : Theory and evidence from the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(9), pages 1149-1162, November.
    4. Zhu, Yumei & Österle, August, 2017. "Rural-urban disparities in unmet long-term care needs in China: The role of the hukou status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 30-37.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liangwen Zhang & Sijia Fu & Ya Fang, 2020. "Prediction the Contribution Rate of Long-Term Care Insurance for the Aged in China Based on the Balance of Supply and Demand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-12, April.
    2. Wang, Qun & Abiiro, Gilbert Abotisem & Yang, Jin & Li, Peng & De Allegri, Manuela, 2021. "Preferences for long-term care insurance in China: Results from a discrete choice experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    3. Kun Wang & Yongjian Ke & Shankar Sankaran & Bo Xia, 2021. "Problems in the home and community‐based long‐term care for the elderly in China: A content analysis of news coverage," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 1727-1741, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lei, Xiaoyan & Bai, Chen & Hong, Jingpeng & Liu, Hong, 2022. "Long-term care insurance and the well-being of older adults and their families: Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    2. Eric French & Elaine Kelly & Richard Cookson & Carol Propper & Miqdad Asaria & Rosalind Raine, 2016. "Socio‐Economic Inequalities in Health Care in England," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 37, pages 371-403, September.
    3. Fleurbaey, Marc & Schokkaert, Erik, 2009. "Unfair inequalities in health and health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 73-90, January.
    4. Tavares, Lara Patrício & Zantomio, Francesca, 2017. "Inequity in healthcare use among older people after 2008: The case of southern European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(10), pages 1063-1071.
    5. Karmann, Alexander & Sugawara, Shinya, 2022. "Comparing the German and Japanese nursing home sectors: Implications of demographic and policy differences," CEPIE Working Papers 02/22, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    6. Yana Van Der Meulen Rodgers & Joseph E. Zveglich, 2021. "Gender Differences in Access to Health Care among the Elderly: Evidence from Southeast Asia," Asian Development Review (ADR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 38(02), pages 59-92, September.
    7. Marcela Arrivillaga, 2021. "Assesing Health Services in Colombia: Development of a Conceptual Framework and Measurement tools based on primary data," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    8. Coast, Joanna, 2018. "A history that goes hand in hand: Reflections on the development of health economics and the role played by Social Science & Medicine, 1967–2017," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 227-232.
    9. Jiang, Yawen & Ni, Weiyi, 2020. "Impact of supplementary private health insurance on hospitalization and physical examination in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    10. Bereket Yakob & Busisiwe Purity Ncama, 2016. "Correlates of perceived access and implications for health system strengthening – lessons from HIV/AIDS treatment and care services in Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, August.
    11. Adam Oliver, 2005. "The English National Health Service: 1979‐2005," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(S1), pages 75-99, September.
    12. Laia Palència & Albert Espelt & Maica Rodríguez-Sanz & Katia B. Rocha & M. Isabel Pasarín & Carme Borrell, 2013. "Trends in social class inequalities in the use of health care services within the Spanish National Health System, 1993–2006," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(2), pages 211-219, April.
    13. Gao, Qiuming & Wang, Derek, 2021. "Hospital efficiency and equity in health care delivery: A study based in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Qun Wang & Yi Zhou & Xinrui Ding & Xiaohua Ying, 2017. "Demand for Long-Term Care Insurance in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    15. Sofia Löfvendahl & Anna Jöud & Ingemar F. Petersson & Elke Theander & Åke Svensson & Katarina Steen Carlsson, 2018. "Income disparities in healthcare use remain after controlling for healthcare need: evidence from Swedish register data on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(3), pages 447-462, April.
    16. Amedeo Spadaro & Lucia Mangiavacchi & Ignacio Moral-Arce & Marta Adiego-Estella & Angela Blanco-Moreno, 2013. "Evaluating the redistributive impact of public health expenditure using an insurance value approach," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 14(5), pages 775-787, October.
    17. Daisy Duell & Xander Koolman & France Portrait, 2017. "Practice variation in the Dutch long‐term care and the role of supply‐sensitive care: Is access to the Dutch long‐term care equitable?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 1728-1742, December.
    18. Ouyang, Yanyan & Cai, Hongbo & Yu, Xuefei & Li, Zijian, 2022. "Capitalization of social infrastructure into China's urban and rural housing values: Empirical evidence from Bayesian Model Averaging," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    19. Mohan, Gretta & Nolan, Anne & Lyons, Seán, 2019. "An investigation of the effect of accessibility to General Practitioner services on healthcare utilisation among older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 254-263.
    20. Van de Poel, Ellen & Van Doorslaer, Eddy & O’Donnell, Owen, 2012. "Measurement of inequity in health care with heterogeneous response of use to need," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 676-689.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ijhplm:v:34:y:2019:i:4:p:e1661-e1674. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0749-6753 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.