A study in Health Economics provides strong evidence that public long‐term care insurance can vastly reduce the crushing financial burden of end‐of‐life health care.
When investigators analyzed data on China’s ongoing public long-term care insurance (LTCI) pilot program, which provides financial assistance and nursing services for disabled older adults needing long-term care, they found that the program cuts catastrophic health spending for elderly households by up to 52%—all without compromising health at the end-of-life. Instead, LTCI shifts care away from costly, aggressive medical interventions toward more effective long‐term support, reducing severe illness episodes and hospital stays, and dependency.
“These findings carry major implications for global aging societies, offering a powerful model for value‐based end‐of‐life care and the design of universal long‐term care system,” said corresponding author Bai Chen, PhD, of the Remin University of China.
URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.70099
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Health Economics is an international health policy journal publishing articles on all aspects of global health economics. We welcome theoretical contributions, empirical studies, and analyses of health policy from the economic perspective. With a wide scope, Health Economics welcomes contributions on the valuation, determinants and definition of health, health care supply and demand, planning and market mechanisms, treatment micro-economics, and health care system performance.
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Health Economics
Long-term care insurance and catastrophic health spending at the end of life among older adults: Evidence from China
8-Apr-2026