北大公卫简伟研2010年12月在HA的"China's Rural-Urban Care Gap Shrank For Chronic Disease Patients, But Inequities Persist"引来一轮争议。
首先原文使用2003-08年的国家调查数据，分析城乡慢性病患者的卫生服务和保险。农村居民相比03年更易于开展住院治疗了，但是因为高copayment rate，他们放弃治疗的几率是城市居民的两倍。作者还提到服务差距缩小的最强证据是中部，西部和东部的证据比较mixed（有意思~~）
Wang Xin去信"Narrowing The Rural-Urban Care Gap In China"，认为2010年制定的新一轮五年计划中的要推广的社保卡将有效缩小城乡服务差距，作者认为这是发展中国家解决类似问题的好榜样，因为
People who are insured can use the social security card at any time and any place for services such as checking their personal social security record and being reimbursed for medical expenses. With this card, rural residents can go to any covered hospital in China for medical treatment and enjoy the same reimbursement as urban residents.
简回信"Chinese Rural-Urban Care Gap: The Authors Respond"，认为社保卡新系统主要是用来simplify medical services transactions and does not directly address the rural-urban care gap，因为
It is important to consider the role of socioeconomic development as well as the integration of the rural and urban health insurance systems. Unbalanced socioeconomic development has led to dramatic differences in local governments' financing capabilities. The funding pool for health insurance in rural China is at the county level, which makes service rebates outside residents' home counties administratively complicated.
而且
The approach to closing the rural-urban gap is likely to be multifaceted, requiring new financing and service-provision mechanisms and greater availability of services. No single policy is likely to constitute a magic bullet. Monitoring and evaluation will be key.
source：10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0203 Health Aff March 2011 vol. 30 no. 3 537
10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0208 Health Aff March 2011 vol. 30 no. 3 537
10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0989 Health Aff December 2010 vol. 29 no. 12 2189-2196
