Factors influencing individuals' take-up of tax-subsidized private health insurance: a cross-sectional study in China

Aims: To identify factors influencing individuals' take-up of tax-subsidized private health insurance. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data in Hangzhou, China. A logistic regression analysis was applied to find factors influencing individuals' take-up of tax-subsidized private health insurance. Results: A total of 1,610 participants joined the survey, and 1,543 valid cases were obtained. The logistic regression results showed that educational level, marital status, the number of elderly people to support, types of basic medical insurance covered, disease history, reimbursement rate of outpatient visits, reimbursement rate of inpatient visits, knowledge of tax-subsidized private health insurance, and ratio of the deduction to income influenced individuals' take-up of tax-subsidized private health insurance. Limitations: Sample representativeness may be sacrificed by the fact that the data were collected from one city (Hangzhou) in a cross-sectional investigation. Conclusions: Demographic variables, such as educational level, marital status, and the number of elderly people to support, have an impact on individuals' take-up of tax-subsidized private health insurance, while age and gender are not significant. People with disease history are more likely to take out tax-subsidized private health insurance. The ratio of deduction to income is positively correlated with the take-up of tax-subsidized private health insurance. Suggestions, such as strengthening the publicity of tax-subsidized private health insurance, increasing the deduction amount, and encouraging employers to provide tax-subsidized private health insurance for employees' families are provided with the hope to promote the development of tax-subsidized private health insurance in China.