Long-term care in Latin America and the Caribbean: theory and policy considerations

Martín Caruso Bloeck, Pablo Ibarrarán and Sebastian Galiani

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper discusses theoretical and practical issues related to long-term care (LTC) services in Latin America. Demand for these services will rise as the region undergoes a swift demographic transition from its currently young population to a rapidly aging one, especially since the region’s aging cohorts are more prone to experience a decline in their functional and physical abilities than elderly people elsewhere in the world. We argue that private insurance markets are ill-equipped to provide coverage to meet the need for LTC, while the amount of personal savings required to afford self-insurance would be prohibitively high. In Latin America, LTC may not be an immediate priority, but governments are likely to encourage the development of LTC programs as demand for them steadily grows. In particular, policymakers are probably going to focus initially on LTC programs for the poor and vulnerable, for whom affordability of LTC is a greater problem. We therefore study how basic elements of policy design affect the cost-effectiveness of LTC programs by means of a formal model.

Keywords: long-term care; long-term care insurance; population aging; Latin America (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J14 N36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2019-10-01
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Published in Economía, 1, October, 2019, 20(1), pp. 1 - 32. ISSN: 1529-7470

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/123252/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Long-Term Care in Latin America and the Caribbean: Theory and Policy Considerations (2019)
Working Paper: Long-Term Care in Latin America and the Caribbean?: Theory and Policy Considerations (2017)
Working Paper: Long-Term Care in Latin America and the Caribbean? Theory and Policy Considerations (2017)
Working Paper: Long-Term Care in Latin America and the Caribbean? Theory and Policy Considerations (2017)
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