This article is originally published in BMC Public Health, aiming to examine the effects of the integrated medical and health care service system on chronic disease patients’ health care behavior and the trend of changes in their financial burden and the composition of medical costs at all levels of hospitals during 2015–2018 in China.
China has gradually expanded healthcare coverage and undergone health insurance reform through the integration of social health protection schemes to achieve universal health coverage. At the same time, the country is facing a rise of the elderly population and chronic diseases. This led to China’s health care system shifting from a curative-based to a health-centered system based on primary health care. Recently, the country has undergone another health system reform by integrating healthcare resources or the integrated medical and health service system, aiming to enhance capacity of primary health care as well as reduce the financial burden of the patients, particularly to those with chronic diseases.
Findings showed that after the implementation of integrated medical and health service system, the top three highest medical costs per capita were drug, consultation, and treatment fees. Despite a rise of health insurance costs and out-of-pocket expenditures, the growth rates are decreasing and have reduced by more than 10 percent during 2015–2018. Therefore, the downward trend is observed after the implementation of the integrated medical and health services. This significantly contributes to the reduction of financial burden among chronic disease patients. Read more