The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.

This study aims to investigate the impact of China's long-term care insurance (LTCI) pilot on household expenditures of the elderly. Utilizing the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015-2020 three-period longitudinal panel data, we examine the policy effects of LTCI using...

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Main Authors: Tianshu Zhang, Zeping Hu, Kaiyue Zhang, Xinran Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316758
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author Tianshu Zhang
Zeping Hu
Kaiyue Zhang
Xinran Li
author_facet Tianshu Zhang
Zeping Hu
Kaiyue Zhang
Xinran Li
author_sort Tianshu Zhang
collection DOAJ
description This study aims to investigate the impact of China's long-term care insurance (LTCI) pilot on household expenditures of the elderly. Utilizing the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015-2020 three-period longitudinal panel data, we examine the policy effects of LTCI using the Differences-in-Differences (DID) approach. The results indicate that the implementation of LTCI significantly reduces medical (p<0.05) and healthcare expenditures (p<0.05) for elderly households, while substantially increasing non-medical healthcare expenditures (p<0.01) and total expenditures (p<0.01). This effect is more pronounced for older households in rural areas or with lower levels of education. Furthermore, the improvement in household expenditures is strongly associated with the health status of the elderly and intergenerational economic support. These findings provide empirical evidence that LTCI enhances household expenditures and the quality of life for the elderly, which is crucial for the development of LTCI in China and other middle-income developing countries.
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spelling doaj-art-ba2b1d20d9924992987a56cb02a6af802025-08-20T02:25:11ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01204e031675810.1371/journal.pone.0316758The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.Tianshu ZhangZeping HuKaiyue ZhangXinran LiThis study aims to investigate the impact of China's long-term care insurance (LTCI) pilot on household expenditures of the elderly. Utilizing the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015-2020 three-period longitudinal panel data, we examine the policy effects of LTCI using the Differences-in-Differences (DID) approach. The results indicate that the implementation of LTCI significantly reduces medical (p<0.05) and healthcare expenditures (p<0.05) for elderly households, while substantially increasing non-medical healthcare expenditures (p<0.01) and total expenditures (p<0.01). This effect is more pronounced for older households in rural areas or with lower levels of education. Furthermore, the improvement in household expenditures is strongly associated with the health status of the elderly and intergenerational economic support. These findings provide empirical evidence that LTCI enhances household expenditures and the quality of life for the elderly, which is crucial for the development of LTCI in China and other middle-income developing countries.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316758
spellingShingle Tianshu Zhang
Zeping Hu
Kaiyue Zhang
Xinran Li
The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.
PLoS ONE
title The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.
title_full The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.
title_fullStr The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.
title_full_unstemmed The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.
title_short The impact of long-term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly: Evidence from China.
title_sort impact of long term care insurance on household expenditures of the elderly evidence from china
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316758
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