Junfang Xu, Jian Wang, Madeleine King, Ruiyun Liu, Fenghua Yu, Jinshui Xing, Lei Su, and Mingshan Lu
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Reducing rural-urban disparities in health and health care has been a key policy goal for the Chinese government. With mental health becoming an increasingly significant public health issue in China, empirical evidence of disparities in the use of mental health services can guide steps to reduce them. We conducted this study to inform China’s on-going health-care reform through examining how health insurance might reduce rural-urban disparities in the utilization of mental health inpatient services in China.
Topic:
Health, Health Care Policy, Mental Health, Urban, and Rural
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Using data from 276 general acute hospitals in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province from 2002 and 2004, we construct a preliminary metric of budget constraint softness. We find that, controlling for hospital size, ownership, and other factors, a Chinese hospital's probability of receiving government financial support is inversely associated with the hospital's previous net revenue, an association consistent with soft budget constraints.