Impact of itemized subsidies on medical expenditure burden in public hospitals:Analysis of da-ta on 23 medical institutions / 中国卫生政策研究

ABSTRACT

To a certain extent, itemized government subsidies to public hospitals, primarily used for hospital infra-structure and large equipment investments, can alleviate the financial pressure of development expenditures and thus re-duce the medical expenditure burden on patients. To test the hypothesis, the panel data method has been adopted based on the data of 23 tertiary hospitals. Empirical results find that(1) increases in itemized subsidies will reduce the burden of medical expenses on patients;(2) conversely, the impact of itemized subsidies on outpatient medical expenses is more sig-nificant. By sharing a portion of public hospital expenses and impacting hospital service providing behavior, itemized sub-sidies help to reduce the burden of medical expenses on patients.