Abstract: Objective To analyze the impact of reimbursement policy (reimbursement rate,ceiling and deductible reimbursement) of New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme on inpatient service utilization.Methods Three counties (Zhangqiu,Changqing,and Pingyin) of Ji'nan municipality,Shandong province were selected with stratified random sampling to conduct a face-to-face questionnaire survey.The study adopted random effect model to analyze unbalanced panel data of 9 020 individuals in 2006,2008,and 2011.Results The inpatient rates were 4.77%,4.40%,and 4.79%,respectively,in 2006,2008,and 2011,and there was no significant yearly difference (χ²=0.704,P>0.05).Reimbursement ratio was proportional to the inpatient service utilization rate (odds ratioOR=2.775).Compared with those with low-income,the individuals with medium-,high and medium-,and high-income used more inpatient service,with the OR of 1.838,2.475,and 5.057.The determinants of inpatient service utilization included economic status,aged 65 years and above,aged 5 years and below,married,suffering from a chronic disease,and having 4 members and above in his/her family (OR=1.434,5.109,1.727,3.345,and 1.305).Compared with the controls,the individuals with a male household head,with a general or a better self-assessment health status used less inpatient service (OR=0.589,0.472,and 0.324).Conclusion The improvement of reimbursement can increase the utilization of inpatient service,and economic status and self-assessment health are also important influencing factors.