The Merger of Urban and Rural Basic Medical Insurance on Health-Seeking Behaviors of the Elderly in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province

บทคัดย่อ

          The merger of urban and rural basic medical insurance under the integrated URRBMI scheme has been implemented in China since 1997. It is anticipated that the integrated URRBMI scheme and its operational mechanism will positively impact the health-seeking behaviors of the elderly in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. The objectives of this research were to ascertain the extent of health-seeking behaviors in the elderly since the implementation of the integrated URRBMI scheme, to reveal the impact of the integrated URRBMI scheme on their health-seeking behaviors, and to seek recommendations for the improvement of existing medical insurance policies for the elderly. A Grade-A central general hospital and a Grade-A traditional Chinese medicine hospital in the urban area, and a township health center in a rural area were chosen for data collection. With non-participant observation, seven urban elderly people and eight rural elderly people were selected to participate in the in-depth interviews. For the health-seeking behaviors, health-seeking behaviors based on medical quality and service, dependence on public health institutions, the elderly failing to admit to health problems, priority of Western medicine, and decision-making by the elderly’s children on their parents’ health-seeking behaviors were found. Public transportation development, the guiding and limited role of the integrated URRBMI restricting the choice of medical services, and its effect on the pre-existing health-seeking mindset were found as the impact of the URRBMI scheme on the health-seeking behaviors. Policy recommendations and recommendations for further research were also provided.