Effects of SO₂ Pollution on Household Insurance Purchasing in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

There have been considerable concerns regarding the effects of air pollution on health and economy over the past decades across the world. As insurance coverage has been closely related to household welfare, we aim to investigate the influence of air pollution, in particular, the sulfur dioxide (SO₂) pollution on household purchases of commercial health insurance using data from the 2017 China Household Financial Survey (CHFS). The results show that the rise in SO₂ emission has a significant positive association with tendency of residents to participate in commercial health insurance. The possibility of household commercial health insurance purchasing increases by 4% per 1,000 tons of SO₂ emission. In addition, the proportion of commercial health insurance expenditure in household annual income increases by 29% per 1,000 tons of SO₂ emission. The effects are also found to differ among resident groups. Residents in eastern parts of China are more likely to buy commercial health insurance facing SO₂ pollution compared to those in western parts of China; people with higher income are more likely to be affected compared to those with lower income; families with the household head being female are more likely to be affected compared to those with the household head being male. This research provides baseline information on the formulation and implementation of future operation strategy in commercial health insurance companies of China.