互联网使用对医疗费用支出的影响

Impact of Internet Use on Medical Expenditures

在信息化急速发展和医疗费用急剧增长的背景下,互联网使用对医疗费用支出的影响如何值得进行深入研究。本文利用2018年中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,基于人力资本理论,分析互联网使用对医疗费用支出的影响。研究结果显示,互联网使用对医疗费用支出具有显著的抑制效应,倾向得分匹配法控制选择性偏差后,其研究结果保持稳健。中介效应分析显示,自评健康是互联网使用对医疗费用支出影响的显著性路径。异质性分析显示,互联网使用对医疗费用支出的抑制效应在60岁以下、城镇、女性、高教育水平、东部地区、中部地区和东北部地区的居民中更为显著。

In the rapid development of information technology and the rapid growth of medical expenditures,it is particularly important to use the internet to reduce medical expenditures to improve the quality of life.With the continuous deepening of population aging and the growth of average life span,people's health has been greatly challenged,resulting in the rapid growth of medical expenditures.At present,the internet is growing explosively.In particular,since the internet can provide health and medical information for residents,it has also played an important role in medical care.It is worthy of in-depth research on the impact of internet use on medical expenditures,which is currently lacking.Moreover,path research on the impact of internet use on medical expenditures is particularly lacking.This paper uses the data of China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)in 2018 to investigate the impact of internet use on medical expenditures.Empirical studies have found that internet use has a significant inhibitory effect on medical expenditures,that is,internet use can effectively reduce medical expenditures.With the selectivity bias controlled by means of the propensity score matching,the above research results remain robust.Further analysis shows that self-rated health is a significant path for the impact of internet use on medical expenditures,and the inhibitory effect of Internet use on medical expenditures is heterogeneous in terms of age,registered residence,gender,educational level,and regions.Specifically,the inhibitory effect of internet use on medical expenditures is more significant among urban female residents under 60 years old with high education,as well as residents in the central,eastern and northeastern regions.Compared with previous literature,this paper has the following two innovations.First,it discusses the significant path of internet use influencing medical expenditures,thus enriching existing literature on influencing factors of medical expenditures.Second,it finds the net effect of internet use on medical expenditures.By means of the propensity score matching,this paper addresses the self-selection bias of internet use by residents to a certain extent,thus more accurately estimating the inhibitory effect of Internet use on medical expenditures.This paper deeply analyzes the impact of internet use on medical expenditures and its mechanism,which can help the government promote the construction of internet infrastructure more pertinently.Meanwhile,it is necessary to establish a medical and health service platform based on the internet and strengthen human capital investment to improve the health level of residents,thus reducing medical expenditures.