Objectives To explore the poor population’s cognition and satisfaction on medical assistance policies in Sichuan province, so as to provide evidence for improving health poverty alleviation policies.Methods  A telephone survey was conducted between October and December 2017 among 1 280 poor individuals in Sichuan Province, with multi-stage stratified random sampling. The contents of the survey included general demographics of the poor population, and knowledge and satisfaction of health poverty alleviation policies.Results The awareness rate of medical assistance policy was 91.80%, and the satisfaction rate was 91.88%. Poor individuals from non-poor counties, who had been out of poverty, and who reported that they had not signed up for family doctors, had low awareness of poverty alleviation policies. Poor individuals from non-poor counties, who usually went to the municipal hospital, who reported that they have not signed up for family doctors, and who do not know about health policies for poverty alleviation had a lower satisfaction rate.Conclusions The overall awareness rate and satisfaction rate of medical assistance policies in Sichuan province are relatively high, however, there are still some shortage. In the future, more attention should be paid to strengthen the promotion of health poverty alleviation policies for non-poor areas and those who had been lifted out of poverty, speeding up the contract service of family doctors and exploring ways to further alleviate the burden of medical expense of patients with serious diseases.

Citation： ZHOU Min, TANG Xuefeng. The awareness and satisfaction of medical aid policy among the poor population in Sichuan province: a cross-sectional survey. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2019, 19(3): 276-280. doi: 10.7507/1672-2531.201809082 Copy