Does China’s Equalization of Basic Public Health Services Policy Improve Delivery Care for Migrant Women?

Abstract

Background: As of 2020, 1 in 4 people in China is a domestic migrant. However, their lack of access to health care in destination cities has been largely neglected by the Chinese government until recently.Methods: Drawing on data from the 2010–2016 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this study evaluated the impact of a pilot program of the Equalization of Basic Public Health Services launched in 2014 and focused on place of childbirth, an important indicator of delivery care. A differences-in-difference design was employed for statistical inference.Results: The migrant pilot program increased the likelihood of a migrant childbirth at a migration destination by about 4 to 8 percentage points, depending on the model specification. Further analyses revealed that this positive effect was short-term and benefited relatively better-off migrant families.Conclusions: The migrant pilot program improved delivery care for migrant women. The Chinese government needs to expand this pilot program to more cities and improve its benefits to better serve the massive migrant population.

Measurement of the Spatiotemporal Disparities in the Equalization Level of Basic Medical and Health Services in China: An Empirical Study Based on Provincial Panel

“…This study adopts Avedis Donabedian's "Structure-Process-Outcome" theory as the logical framework for constructing the indicator system. On the basis of fully referencing the research results of scholars such as Zou Wenjie, Sun Changqing, and Zhao Lindu [18][19][20][21][22], considering the principles of scientificity and availability of evaluation indicators, 22 indicators were selected from three dimensions: medical and health investment, health service utilization, and medical service effectiveness. These indicators are used to evaluate the level of equalization of basic medical and health services in different regions, as shown in Table 1.…”