Factors associated with enrollment, satisfaction, and sustainability of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme program in six study areas in rural Beijing.
OBJECTIVE
This study examines the factors associated with the enrollment, satisfaction, and sustainability of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) program in six study areas in rural Beijing.


METHODS
Data come from a sample of 890 persons aged 15-88 from 890 households who were randomly interviewed from six rural counties/districts in Beijing.


RESULTS
Findings from multi-level models indicate that gender, socioeconomic status, adequate knowledge about the policy, subjective premium contribution, subjective co-payment rates, and need are significantly associated with enrollment. We further find that the sustainability of the NCMS program is only significantly related to knowledge about the policy and satisfaction with the overall performance of the program.


CONCLUSIONS
The NCMS program should be further promoted through different media avenues. It is also necessary to expand the types of services to include basic medical care and other specialized services to meet the different needs of the rural population. In addition, supervision of the system's performance should be enhanced and characteristics of the local community should be considered in the implementation of the NCMS.
Wang
Hongman
H
Health Science Center, Peking University, China.
Gu
Danan
D
Dupre
Matthew Egan
ME
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D017047:Cost Sharing; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D008330:Management Audit; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution; D017062:Small-Area Analysis