The influence of medical insurance and social security cards on the floating population's settlement intention

Background Medical insurance and social security cards are an important incentive for the floating population to live a stable life in their current residence, but there has been little studies on their effect on settlement intentions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to study the impact of basic medical insurance for urban employees and application for personal social security cards on the settlement intentions of the floating population. With the increase of the desire to settle, the health management and the development of public health will be improved. Methods Based on the 2017 survey data from the dynamic monitoring of China's floating population, we explored the influence of basic medical insurance for urban employees and social security cards on the floating population's settlement intentions. Additionally, this study also examined the comprehensive causal relationship, with social integration as the mediator variable. We used SPSS 21.0 software. The input method was used to analyze the influence of the above variables by binary logistic regression. Then we used AMOS22.0 software to establish the structural equation model of the relationship between the above three independent variables. Finally, we used bootstrapping method to analyze the direct effect, indirect effect and total effect of independent variables on settlement intention. Results The settlement intention of members of the floating population after participating in basic medical insurance for urban employees was 23.2% higher than that of those who did not participate. The decision as to whether to apply for a personal social security card is related to their settlement intention. The standardized regression coefficients among social insurance and security, social integration, and settlement intention were positive values, and the Z values of the overall effect, indirect effect, and direct effect were all greater than 1.96; the confidence interval of the indirect effect did not include 0. We found that this model is a partial intermediary model, with an intermediary ratio of 10.66%. Conclusions This article highlights the important impact of basic medical insurance for urban employees and individual social security cards on the floating population. The conclusions of this study provide suggestions for the government to use when designing policies to enhance the settlement intentions of the floating population and to improve the development of public health undertakings.