A Treasure at Home: Free Health Check-up Policies, Elderly Health, and Resilience in Family Development

This study examines the impact of free health check-up policies targeting the elderly on household development resilience and its underlying mechanisms based on CHARLS2013-2020. Key findings are as follows: First, the free physical examination policy significantly enhances household development resilience, a conclusion that remains robust across a series of rigorous tests. Second, the policy’s effects on household resilience vary by education level and income, with greater impacts observed for highly educated households, low-income households, and rural households. Third, the policy improves elderly health literacy, promotes healthy behaviors, elevates subjective and objective health outcomes, reduces health anxiety, lowers household medical burdens, increases labor participation, and ultimately strengthens household resilience.