Can the Integration of Urban and Rural Medical Insurance Narrow the Income Gap Between Residents? A Study from the Perspectives of Income and Expenditure
Can the Integration of Urban and Rural Medical Insurance Narrow the Income Gap Between Residents? A Study from the Perspectives of Income and Expenditure
LIU Chang
School of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Abstract Focusing on the goal of narrowing the income gap between residents and steadily advancing common prosperity, this study takes the integration of urban and rural medical insurance as the entry point. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model is constructed to evaluate the impact of the integration of urban and rural medical insurance on income inequality among residents. The conclusions indicate that the integration of medical insurance significantly mitigates the trend of widening income gaps among residents. Parallel trend tests demonstrate that the policy’s effects gradually emerge over time. Mechanism analysis proves that the integration of medical insurance benefits low-income groups, especially those in the middle-to-low income brackets, through both income and expenditure channels, effectively reducing the risk of poverty and re-poverty due to illness for these groups. Further discussions reveal that the integration of medical insurance significantly alleviates the medical burden on rural populations. Therefore, in the ongoing process of improving the integration of urban and rural medical insurance, it is essential to more specifically target policy design towards low-income groups, enhance the fairness of benefits, and provide institutional guarantees for achieving common prosperity.
LIU Chang. Can the Integration of Urban and Rural Medical Insurance Narrow the Income Gap Between Residents? A Study from the Perspectives of Income and Expenditure. Economic Survey, 2025, 42(2): 029.
2025, Vol. 42 
