RETRACTED: The Effects of Environmental Regulations on Medical Expenses: Evidence from China

Abstract

In this study, we examine the effects of a special period regulation (SPR), implemented in the Chang-Zhu-Tan (Changsha City, Zhuzhou City, and Xiangtan City; CZT) region, regarding medical expenses paid by the Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URRBMI) and Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) programs, using a difference-in-differences (DID) design. We find that the SPR significantly reduces medical expenses in the CZT region, which appears to be driven by improved air quality. Furthermore, this regulation has a significantly negative and positive impact on medical expenses paid by the UURBMI and UEBMI, respectively. In summary, our results provide empirical evidence for the orderly implementation of command-and-control environmental regulation policies from the perspective of health benefits.

The impact of national comprehensive medical reform on residents' medical expenses: Evidence from China

“…Therefore, the influencing factors of residents' medical expenses are important topics that scholars have paid attention to for a long time. For example, the existing literature investigated the above issue from the perspective of air pollution (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), environmental regulation (15,16), fiscal decentralization (17), and energy use (18).…”

“…In general, the existing literature comprehensively investigated the influencing factors of residents' medical expenses from multiple perspectives. Some studies believed that serious air pollution is not conducive to residents' health, which may increase residents' medical expenses (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), while strict environmental regulations can alleviate this adverse effect to a certain extent (15,16). Other studies explained residents' high medical expenses from the perspectives of fiscal decentralization (17) and energy use (18).…”

RETRACTED: Ai et al. The Effects of Environmental Regulations on Medical Expenses: Evidence from China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 7567

“…The authors and journal retract the following article: “The Effects of Environmental Regulations on Medical Expenses: Evidence from China” [ 1 ].…”

“…Adhering to our complaints procedure, an investigation was conducted by the Editorial Office and Editorial Board which confirmed the failure of the authors to gain appropriate permission from the Hunan Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau to publish the data contained within this article [ 1 ]. As a result, the Editorial Office and Editorial Board have decided to retract this article [ 1 ] as per MDPI’s retraction policy ( ).…”