Smart Elderly Health Care and Elderly-only Family Medical Expenditure

Corresponding author: CHEN JIAHUI, chenjiahui@ruc.edu.cn

DOI: 10.12201/bmr.202604.00059

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  Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the impact of smart elderly care policies on the medical expenditures of elderly-only households.Methods: Based on 2014-2013 data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, this study employs a staggered difference-in-differences model to identify policy-induced variations in medical spending.Results: The policy reduces medical expenses for target households. After controlling for covariates, pilot led to an average 1.13% decrease in expenditures, a finding robust to multiple specifications. Mechanism analysis reveals two primary pathways: (1) chronic disease prevention, which lowers comorbidity and severity risks through early identification; and (2) health capital accumulation, driven by increased exercise frequency enabled by policy-supported facilities.Conclusion: Smart healthcare initiatives effectively mitigate the medical financial burden on elderly-only households.Efforts should focus on expanding coverage, leveraging intention-to-treat effects, and optimizing digital preventive systems. Furthermore, fostering medical-sports integration and enhancing emotional support for seniors are essential for maximizing policy effectiveness.

  Key words: The Impact of Smart Elderly Health Care Policy on the Medical Expenditure of Elderly-only Households

  Submit time: 9 April 2026

  Copyright: The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted biomedRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
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