The Research On The Equalization Of Basic Medical And Health Services For Urban And Rural Areas: Dilemma And Strategy

Medical and health services are the livelihood issues which concerned by the citizens. They are not only related to the health of millions of people, but also related to the well-being of millions of households. At present, deepening the reform of health system, accelerating the development of medical and health services, satisfying the ordinary people’s growing demand for health care and improving the quality of health services are not only the essential requirement of implementing the scientific concept of development and promoting the sustainable development of economy and society, but also the important measures of improving the quality of life and safeguarding the social fairness and justice, even more the arduous tasks of building the moderately prosperous and socialist harmonious society. With the continuous development of economy and society and the continuous improvement of public finance system, many scholars are doing research in equalization of basic public services. However, the research on the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas is relatively few, which is still in the preliminary exploration stage. In order to define the policy implications of the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas, and explore the way to achieve the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas, we still need more in-depth theoretical study and practical exploration. To this end, this paper is working at the equalization in China based on the results of the existing study, using the data of China Health Statistics Yearbook 2009. Meanwhile, taking the universal free health insurance in Shenmu as an example to analyse the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. This paper is aiming at perfecting the basic theory in the equalization of public services in urban and rural areas, and provides scientific policy recommendations in the practice of the reform in medical system.The whole paper contains five parts, namely "an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion".Chapter One has analyzed the mechanism of the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. Firstly, it has explained the connotation of the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. Secondly, it has revealed the relationship among governments, suppliers, demanders, and third parties. Lastly, it has proposed the index system of the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. Among them, the index system can be divided into three systems, namely, the efficiency of the system, a fair system, and government responsibility system, the three systems were constituted by 32 indicators.Chapter Two has analyzed the situation of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. Firstly, it has analyzed the content of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas from several aspects, using the data of China Health Statistics Yearbook 2009. Secondly, it has proposed the main reasons of the unequalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas, namely, the poor construction of primary medical and health system, the poor investment and excessive decentralization of governments, and the unreasonable financing in medical and health areas.Chapter Three has proposed the way to achieve the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. On one hand, it has required the government to integrate and optimize the social resources. On the other hand, it has discussed the strategy for improvement from several perspectives and required the government to integrate the urban and rural medical insurance system by carrying out the three-step strategy. Meanwhile, taking the universal free health insurance in Shenmu as an example to analyse the equalization of basic medical and health services for urban and rural areas. This paper is aiming at perfecting the basic theory in the equalization of public services in urban and rural areas, and provides scientific policy recommendations in the practice of the reform in medical system.The innovation of this paper mainly manifests in the following aspects, governments can integrate the urban and rural medical insurance by break ing the household boundaries and professional boundaries between urban and rural areas. Specifically speaking, in the first place, governments have to integrate the new rural cooperative medical care system and the medical insurance system for urban residents. In the second place, governments have to integrate the health insurance system and the medical insurance system for urban workers. For doing this, the ordinary people can enjoy the same goal of health care treatment and equality for all insurance payment.