China Center for Human Capital and Labor Market Research, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China.
Qingdao Municipal Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Qingdao, China.
Front Public Health. 2022 Feb 15;10:850872. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.850872. eCollection 2022.
This paper investigates the impact and non-linear effects of urbanization on health care expenditure in China. The results indicate that urbanization in both Eastern and Central regions can significantly increase health care expenditure. But the impact of urbanization is not significant, which is related to the backward economic development level and low urbanization rate in the Western region. Taking population aging into consideration, the results of the panel threshold regression model imply that the positive relationship between urbanization and health care expenditure becomes greater when the level of population aging exceeds 10.72% in the Eastern region and 7.00% in the Western region. Therefore, in the urbanization process, the government should pay attention to the positive effect of urbanization on health care expenditure, provide more financial support for the construction of medical facilities, and expand the coverage of medical services and security for residents, especially for elderly people.
本文研究了城市化对中国医疗保健支出的影响和非线性效应。结果表明，东部和中部地区的城市化都可以显著增加医疗保健支出。但城市化的影响并不显著，这与西部地区经济发展水平落后和城市化率低有关。考虑到人口老龄化，面板门槛回归模型的结果表明，在东部地区人口老龄化水平超过 10.72%，西部地区超过 7.00%的情况下，城市化与医疗保健支出之间的正相关关系会变得更大。因此，在城市化进程中，政府应该关注城市化对医疗保健支出的积极影响，为医疗设施建设提供更多的财政支持，并扩大居民，特别是老年人的医疗服务和保障范围。
