title: The Association Between the New Rural Cooperative Medical System and Health Care Seeking Behavior Among Middle-Aged and Older Chinese.
abstract: The new rural cooperative medical system (NCMS) is the primary form of social insurance in rural China. This study aims to explore how the NCMS influences the health care seeking behaviors of middle-aged and older Chinese, considering the family and community contexts. A series of multi-level (three-level) models using data from the first wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) are used. We find that the presence of NCMS coverage has a statistically significant association with seeking inpatient and outpatient care but not physical checkups among middle-aged and older rural Chinese: Rural residents insured by NCMS were more likely to seek inpatient and outpatient care than people who were not insured. Other factors at the individual level (such as self-perceived health and number of doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases), the family level (such as living arrangements and household expenditures), and the community level (such as the presence of township hospitals within the community) are also significant predictors of health care seeking behaviors.
authors: a PhD Student, Sociology and Criminology & Law , University of Florida , Gainesville , Florida , USA.
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Li
authors: b Professor, School of Social Development , Central University of Finance and Economics , Beijing , China.
authors: Cuntong
authors: C
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: China; health care seeking behaviors; new rural cooperative medical system (NCMS)