Room: Phillips 101
Time: Wed 12:00 PM-13:30 PM

The Effects of Health Care System Reform in China

Chair: Shufang Zhang

Session Description

After years of debate, China unveiled its health care reform in April of 2009. The government committed spending an additional 850 billion RMB ($US 125 billion) over the next three years to provide basic universal health care for the population of 1.3 billion. The proposed reforms are broad, including expansion of health insurance, restructuring provider incentives, and strengthening the public health system. Due to the magnitude and nature of the reforms, evidence on the effects of the policy changes in China will be valuable for researchers and policymakers worldwide. In this session, we present emerging research on the effects of health care reform in China. The session will include a brief overview of the Chinese system and its reform to provide context for the research presentations. Three presentations of original research will provide evidence on some of the most pressing and controversial issues in the Chinese reform including the expansion and design of insurance coverage and the design of provider payments.

Key Terms None Listed

Session Organizer: Kate Bundorf (Stanford University)

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Presentations

1. Health Care Trend in China: Coverage Expansion and Out-of-Pocket Payment Increase in Urban Area

   Presenter: Wei Zhang (China Europe International Business School (CEIBS))

   Discussant: Åke Blomqvist (Central University of Finance and Economics)

2. Contracting with Private Providers for Primary Care Services: Evidence from Urban China

   Presenter: Karen Eggleston (Stanford University)

   Discussant: Feng Liu (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)

3. The Impact of Health Insurance on Health and Education Outcomes: Evidence from Rural China

   Presenter: Ginger Zhe Jin (University of Maryland )

   Discussant: Sam Kleiner (Carnegie Mellon University)