Returns to Caring? Health and Wellbeing Effects of Subsidized Long-Term Care

Joan Costa-i-Font, Sergi Jimenez-Martin and Cristina Vilaplana-Prieto

No 12943, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We estimate the health and wellbeing effects of subsidized access to long-term care (LTC). Our analysis exploits the staggered implementation of Spain’s 2007 System of Autonomy and Care for Dependent People (SAAD), which expanded publicly funded and universal LTC subsidies and supports, as well as its subsequent reform. Using two decades worth of administrative and survey data and leveraging exogenous regional and individual-level variation in program exposure, we find that access to SAAD benefits reduces the care receiver’s depressive symptoms by about 1 percentage point, increases its survival probability by 2.6–3 percentage points, and raises its life satisfaction by 0.24–0.50 scale points. Cost-effectiveness estimates indicate that the implied cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained lies below commonly accepted efficiency thresholds for public health spending in Europe. These findings document sizeable health returns and efficiency gains from publicly subsidized LTC provision

Keywords: long-term care subsidies; long-term care supports; old age care; Spain; mortality; cost per QALY; survival; mental health; and life satisfaction. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 J14 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12943

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