Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 232071, 14 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/232071
Research Article

Constructing an Urban Population Model for Medical Insurance Scheme Using Microsimulation Techniques

Linping Xiong,1,2 Lulu Zhang,3 Weidong Tang,4 and Yuqin Ma1

1Department of Health Services Management, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
2National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
3Institute of Military Health Services Management, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
4Bureau of Labour and Social Security of Kunming, Kunming 650011, China

Received 13 August 2011; Accepted 17 November 2011

Academic Editor: Haitao Chu

Copyright © 2012 Linping Xiong et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

China launched a pilot project of medical insurance reform in 79 cities in 2007 to cover urban nonworking residents. An urban population model was created in this paper for China’s medical insurance scheme using microsimulation model techniques. The model made it clear for the policy makers the population distributions of different groups of people, the potential urban residents entering the medical insurance scheme. The income trends of units of individuals and families were also obtained. These factors are essential in making the challenging policy decisions when considering to balance the long-term financial sustainability of the medical insurance scheme.