A spatial analysis of the health and longevity of Taiwanese people

Initiated in 1995, Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) programme now covers over 99.6% of its residents, ensuring widespread medical access. Despite this, regional disparities in medical resource allocation persist. This study investigates the potential urban–rural divide in life expectancy and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geneva papers on risk and insurance. Issues and practice 2024-04, Vol.49 (2), p.384-399
Main Authors: Yue, Jack C., Tu, Ming-Huei, Leong, Yin-Yee
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Data analysis
Economics and Finance
Fertility
Finance
Health care
Health services utilization
Insurance
Life expectancy
Mortality
National health insurance
Regions
Risk Management
Spatial analysis
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Summary:Initiated in 1995, Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) programme now covers over 99.6% of its residents, ensuring widespread medical access. Despite this, regional disparities in medical resource allocation persist. This study investigates the potential urban–rural divide in life expectancy and healthcare utilisation. Drawing data from the Ministry of the Interior (population registration records), NHI Research Database (medical utilisation) and Ministry of Health and Welfare (leading causes of death), we employ spatial analysis, visualisation tools and the standardised mortality ratio for assessing regional disparities. Our findings reveal distinct regional mortality differences in Taiwan, with lower rates in northern counties and higher ones in mountainous regions. However, healthcare utilisation shows no significant regional variations. Notably, patterns of overall mortality rates and primary death causes demonstrate spatial clustering.
ISSN:1018-5895
1468-0440
DOI:10.1057/s41288-024-00322-3