Abstract:

This article focuses on narrowing the income gap among residents, based on the dual perspectives of "promoting health and poverty prevention" and "inclusive urban-rural development". Using Chinese household tracking survey data and a multi–period difference-in-differences model, it explores the inherent logical relationship between the urban- rural medical insurance coordination policy and the income gap among residents. The study found that the coordinated urban–rural medical insurance policy can significantly narrow the income gap among residents, and this conclusion still holds true after a series of robustness tests. Compared with the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme and Urban Employee Basie Medical Insurance, the coordinated medical insurance has a positive effect in promoting horizontal equity and vertical public equity. The results of the mechanism test prove that the coordinated policy has significantly improved the level of residents' health and medical insurance benefits, and played a key role in poverty alleviation for low-income groups, especially in reducing the medical burden of rural residents suffering from serious diseases and improving their ability to pay for medical insurance. The effectiveness is particularly outstanding. Based on this, we should continue to optimize the urban-rural medical insurance coordination policy, focus on strengthening the medical insurance benefits for disadvantaged groups, effectively reduce their medical economic burden, and enhance the accessibility and fairness of the medical insurance system.

Key words:

urban and rural medical insurance, income gap, gini coefficient, inclusive urban–rural development