he Effects of Living Arrangements on Cost of Direct Daily Health Care among the Chinese Elderly

By using the data from the survey of Chinese Healthy Longevity Survey conducted in 2008, this paper focuses on effects of different living arrangements on their cost of direct daily health care for Chinese elderly. Having taken effect of zero and heteroscedasticity in the latent variable model into account, this paper employs Tobit regression model and bootstrap error estimation to understand living arrangement disparities in the direct daily health care cost. Our results indicate that variable of respondents’ living arrangement is significantly associated with direct daily health care cost. Those living in nursing homes cost more than those living with their children or live alone. Meanwhile, it also turns out that medical insurance for seniors is deficient for elderly. There is no phenomenon of medical insurance abuse, but medical insurance shortage in the field of seniors’ medical insurance. When we combine the desired living arrangement with this study, the following policy implications are obvious: convert sickness-oriented health consciousness to health-oriented consciousness.; continue to carry out and deepen ‘home-based care’ for the elderly grounded on community.; continue to reform medical insurance, increase coverage of medical insurance, and establish long-term care insurance for the Chinese elderly.