Migration, Health Insurance and Health Care Disparities: Evidence from Hypertension Management in China

Rapid urbanization has led to an enormous influx of people in China migrating from rural to urban areas. Professor Hai Fang will talk about health care disparities in the management of hypertension in China for rural-to-urban migrants and understand the role of health insurance in affecting these disparities. Rural-to-urban migrants are compared to residents remaining in the rural areas. Hypertension management means whether one individual is aware of his or her hypertension, and (if being aware) whether they use medication treatment, monitor blood pressure, receive physician advice, or control blood pressure to the normal range.  Professor Fang and his co-authors find that rural-to-urban migrants had worse hypertention management than residents permanently living in rural or urban areas.  These findings suggest that it is critical to extend urban health insurance coverage and primary care services to rural-to-urban migrants, and further integrate rural and urban health insurance plans to achieve universal coverage in China.

Professor Hai Fang is currently a Professor of Health Economics at the China Center for Health Development Studies at Peking University in China.  He is also a research associate at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  He graduated from Tianjin University (BA) and Nankai University (MA), and received his MA and PhD in Economics, and Master in Public Health from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.