Association between health insurance cost-sharing and choice of hospital tier for cardiovascular diseases in China: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Hospitals in China are classified into tiers (1, 2 or 3), with the largest (tier 3) having more equipment and specialist staff. Differential health insurance cost-sharing by hospital tier (lower deductibles and higher reimbursement rates in lower tiers) was introduced to reduce overcrowding in higher tier hospitals, promote use of lower tier hospitals, and limit escalating healthcare costs. However, little is known about the effects of differential cost-sharing in health insurance schemes on choice of hospital tiers.

Gender differences in use of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for acute ischaemic heart disease in Chinese adults.

Objective: To investigate gender differences in the use of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for acute ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in Chinese adults and assess whether socioeconomic or health system factors contribute to such differences.

Methods: In 2004-2008, the China Kadoorie Biobank recruited 512 726 adults from 10 diverse areas in China. Data for 38 928 first hospitalisations with IHD (2911 acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 9817 angina and 26 200 other IHD) were obtained by electronic linkage to health insurance records until 31 December 2016.

Socioeconomic differences in health-care use and outcomes for stroke and ischaemic heart disease in China during 2009-16: a prospective cohort study of 0·5 million adults.

Background: China initiated major health-care reforms in 2009 aiming to provide universal health care for all by 2020. However, little is known about trends in health-care use and health outcomes across different socioeconomic groups in the past decade.

Methods: We used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), a nationwide prospective cohort study of adults aged 30-79 years in 2004-08, in ten regions (five urban, five rural) in China.