Abstract
A number of developing countries have rapidly expanded social health insurance (SHI), but thus far they have reported only limited success in providing effective social protection, especially for the poor, despite substantial increase in overall health expenditures. This study analyses date from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to explore the impacts of types of SHI on health service utilization and expenditures. Results suggest that plans like Urban Employee Medical Insurance (UEI), offering more generous benefits, tend to incur higher total costs prior to reimbursement than either the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) or no insurance. We conclude that, while policy initiatives aiming at making SHI schemes more generous, such as improving the comprehensiveness of benefit packages and increasing reimburse rates, are politically popular, such initiatives may result in significant increase in overall health expenditures while having little impact on reducing financial burdens for those insured.
About the speaker
Professor Xun WU is a professor at the Division of Public Policy, the Division of Social Science and the Division of Environment and Sustainability. He is also the Director of the Institute for Public Policy, the Director of Leadership and Public Policy (Executive Education), and Acting Head of the Division of Public Policy.
Professor Wu is a policy scientist with a strong interest in the linkage between policy analysis and public management. Trained in engineering, economics, public administration, and policy analysis, his research seeks to make contribution to the design of effective public policies in dealing emerging policy challenges across Asian countries. His research interests include policy innovations, water resource management, health policy reform, and anti-corruption, and his work has been published in top journals in his fields of study, such as Policy Sciences, Public Administration Review, Governance, Social Sciences & Medicine, and Water Resources Research. He is a co-editor of the Cambridge Studies in Comparative Public Policy, and Cambridge Elements in Public Policy.
He has been involved extensively in consultancy and executive education. He has consulted for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNEP, International Vaccine Institute, and numerous government agencies on a variety of topics, such as infrastructure planning and development, environmental and social impact assessment, design and implementation of randomized control trials (RCTs), and Public-Private Partnership. He has designed and delivered customized executive education programs in policy development, leadership, and public sector management for a diverse range of clients, such as Bank of Indonesia, Yunnan Provincial Government of China, Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore, General Secretariat of the Executive Council (GSEC) of UAE, and Ministry of Water Resources of Nepal.
Prior to joining HKUST, he held a faculty position (2001-2015) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in the National University of Singapore, while serving as the Director of the Institute of Water Policy. He had also worked as a lecturer in Renmin University of China (1988-1992) and a survey specialist at the World Bank (2000-2001).
