Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 6: ensuring financial protection in long-term care
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Date
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
World Health Organization
Abstract
Description
12 p.
The Portuguese version is published by PAHO: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/63360
The Spanish version is published by PAHO: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/64459
This policy brief examines financial protection in long-term care (LTC) and its importance in preventing older people and their families from experiencing financial hardship when accessing needed care services. As part of the WHO series Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings, the document analyses how different approaches to LTC financing influence affordability, equity and access to care. It highlights the disproportionate impact of LTC costs on women, low-income populations and people with complex care needs, and reviews evidence from a range of countries on policies designed to reduce out-of-pocket spending and prevent poverty associated with long-term care needs. The publication explores key financing mechanisms, including universal and means-tested coverage models, cost-sharing arrangements linked to ability to pay, benefit targeting for individuals with severe disabilities, and policies that cap individual payments while ensuring access to needed services. It also discusses the role of prevention and treatment of conditions such as dementia and stroke in reducing future care needs and expenditures. Drawing on international experience, the brief examines special entitlements for older people, support for residential care costs, and measures to protect vulnerable populations from excessive spending. It concludes by outlining policy considerations for low- and middle-income countries seeking to strengthen financial protection, expand access to long-term care and reduce reliance on unpaid family caregiving.
The Portuguese version is published by PAHO: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/63360
The Spanish version is published by PAHO: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/64459
This policy brief examines financial protection in long-term care (LTC) and its importance in preventing older people and their families from experiencing financial hardship when accessing needed care services. As part of the WHO series Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings, the document analyses how different approaches to LTC financing influence affordability, equity and access to care. It highlights the disproportionate impact of LTC costs on women, low-income populations and people with complex care needs, and reviews evidence from a range of countries on policies designed to reduce out-of-pocket spending and prevent poverty associated with long-term care needs. The publication explores key financing mechanisms, including universal and means-tested coverage models, cost-sharing arrangements linked to ability to pay, benefit targeting for individuals with severe disabilities, and policies that cap individual payments while ensuring access to needed services. It also discusses the role of prevention and treatment of conditions such as dementia and stroke in reducing future care needs and expenditures. Drawing on international experience, the brief examines special entitlements for older people, support for residential care costs, and measures to protect vulnerable populations from excessive spending. It concludes by outlining policy considerations for low- and middle-income countries seeking to strengthen financial protection, expand access to long-term care and reduce reliance on unpaid family caregiving.
Keywords
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Long-Term Care, Income, Financial Support, Social Support, Caregivers, Developed Countries, Delivery of Health Care, Healthcare Financing, Health Expenditures, Health Services for the Aged, Health Services Accessibility, Financial Stress, Poverty, Pensions, Policy, Health Services for the Aged, economics, statistics and numerical data