Health Benefits of Air Quality Improvement : Empirical Research Based on Medical Insurance Reimbursement Data

Measuring the health benefits of air quality improvement is a new perspective for evaluating the government’s investment in pollution control. This study calculates health benefits using medical insurance reimbursement data. The results show that for every 10μg/m3 decrease in PM2.5, patients’ average medical cost will decrease by CNY 1,699 (USD 263.6), and loss of normal working and living time will decrease by 1.24 days. PM2.5 has a more significant impact on patients with chronic respiratory diseases and hospitalised patients with circulatory diseases. Improving air quality can reduce the burden on medical insurance funds as well as on patients themselves, but patients with higher reimbursement rates are more affected by air quality changes. If the city’s annual PM2.5 concentration drops to the standard of 35 μg/m3, it will bring more than CNY 1.28 billion (USD 198 million) in health benefits, accounting for 18% of the city’s annual investment in environmental protection