An Analysis of the Effect of Social Medical Insurance on Family Consumption

Under the trend of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, the social medical burden for people has become heavier. How to better solve the problem of medical treatment, increase family consumption and promote economic development has become a hot topic in the field of social economics. Therefore, the author aims to analyze the impact of social medical insurance on household consumption. Based on the data of the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) of 2019, this paper empirically analyzes the influence mechanism of social medical insurance on household consumption by using the least square method and instrumental variable method from the microlevel. The results show that social medical insurance significantly affects family consumption, and the purchase of social medical insurance reduces family total consumption, family food consumption and family resident consumption. Heterogeneity tests indicate that families where the householder without employment enjoy a greater decline in consumption from purchasing social medical insurance compared to families where the householder has employment.