The Changing Profile of the Elderly: Effects on Future Long-Term Care Needs and Financing

Abstract

Simulation techniques are used to analyze the changing profile of the elderly from 1990 to 2030. The results show that the future demand for long-term care services is likely to be greater than many realize. Increases in the number of elderly who are 85 years of age and older, who have health limitations, or who live alone are likely to outpace the general increase in the elderly population. Although there will be a very large group of elderly at risk, their economic status will be better than that of today's elderly population. The percentage of elderly who can afford insurance premiums for broad long-term care coverage will increase in the future, but most older Americans probably will not be able to afford insurance. Although policies that reduce the cost and encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance could help to expand coverage, a large long-term care financing gap is likely to remain for the future elderly population.

The Roles of Relationship With Family and Life Values in the Housing Choices of Elderly Koreans

“…In the early 20th century, the elderly were the recipients of care as soon as they retired. However, unlike previous times, there is a recent healthier group among the heterogeneous group of the elderly (Fuchs, 1999;Haberkern, Neuberger, Grignon, & Schmid, 2012;Shapiro & Roos, 1982;Zedlewski & McBride, 1992). This group has also acquired financial resources during their working lives and has increased leisure time after they retired.…”

Healthcare Development Strategies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…Even though these statistics serve as major predictors of the need for nursing homes or other long-term care facilities, it is unlikely that Saudis would elect to send relatives to such facilities, if they can admit them to acute 86 59 care hospitals or can reasonably cope with the situation at home. For one thing, simply being old does not imply a need for long-term care.…”

What Happened to Long‐Term Care in the Health Reform Debate of 1993–1994? Lessons for the Future

“…Only about 4 to 5 percent of the elderly and a negligible percentage of nonelderly people had any kind of private long-term care insurance, largely because such insurance was very expensive (Rivlin and Wiener 1988;Friedland 1990;Zedlewski and McBride 1992;Crown, Capitman, and Leutz 1992;Wiener, Illston and Hanley 1994;Estes and Bodenheimer 1994). As one high-level official put it, "There was no great confidence in private long-term care insurance.…”