Responsibility of Children for Financing Institutional Care: Potential Response and Possible Adjustments. Interest in Long-Term Care Insurance

摘要

The study objective was to determine the barriers to and potential for alternate payment schemes for long-term care (LTC), particularly nursing home care, by the children of the elderly. About 2,400 elderly in Massachusetts and a sample of 349 of their adult children were interviewed. More than 40% of the elderly expressed an interest in purchasing LTC insurance to cover services either in the home or in a high quality institution. Those interested were not clearly differentiated from those who were not by such factors as marital status, age, number of children, and living arrangement, although economic factors were quite predictive of level of interest. The study found that children of the elderly expressed considerable interest in the purchase of LTC, with 52% willing to pay for such insurance were it to become available. Study findings indicate that there was a number of differences between children who were interested and those who were not interested in purchasing nursing home insurance for their parent(s). Children who were not interested in buying such insurance are more likely to provide help with cooking and cleaning and transportation, more likely to visit their parent(s), and less confident about whether they could provide more financial help if it were needed. Children who were interested in buying LTC insurance for their parents were more likely to consider themselves the primary caretaker of their parent, more willing to have their parent move in with them, less confident that family and friends could provide more help if needed, and more likely to indicate a willingness to pay for outside help for their parent if necessary.