Analysis of the Financing of New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in Shandong Province

Objectives: Shandong Province initiated the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme(NRCMS) for rural residents in 2003.Up to the end of 2009,the overall population coverage is over 90.00 percent.However,it is still understudied which factors limit the universal coverage.From the point view of impacts of these factors on the financing,the information of finance resource,usage and benefit,etc,are provided for policy makers to perfect policy design.Methods: The impact of these factors on the financing is analyzed by using total health expenditure method.The data was derived from annual health service survey at the Health Department of Shandong Province from 2003 to 2009.Results: It is found that(1)OOP payment is the main financing source,which accounts for 72.56% in total NRCMS expenditure in 2003 and decreases to 65.36% in 2009;(2)The general government expenditure per capita increased from 24.90 yuan in 2003 to 103.14 yuan in 2009;(3)Inpatient and outpatient expenditure account for 73.41% and 22.31% in total NRCMS expenditure respectively,but the preventive expenditure is less than 10.00% in 2009.Conclusions: The experiences of reducing OOP,increasing government budget and designing accurate benefits,which were interpreted from the study,could be an important contribution to maintain NRCMS sustainable development.