Medical Needs and Utilization of Urban Children Living in Poverty

Content introduction：

Poor people are at the bottom of the urban social strata. One of the is the biggest obstacle for them to seek and use medical services is the high cost of these services. The results of the third national health services survey shows that the urban poor utilizes significantly less medical services than the non-poor. This study compares and contrasts the medical needs and utilization of the children from three types of families: non-poor, poor but uncovered by the Minimum Living Standard System and poor covered by the Minimum Living Standard System. Major issues concerning children’s medical utilization and the implementation of the medical insurance are analyzed in the paper and accordingly some policy suggestions are made to improve the situation.