@mastersthesis {6413,
	title = {Private Long-term Care Insurance and Patterns of Care Use among Older Adults},
	year = {2007},
	month = {2007},
	school = {Wayne State University},
	abstract = {This dissertation looks at private long-term care insurance (LTCI) and its effects on the use of long-term care (LTC) services among disabled older adults. This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, in order to provide an integrated picture of care use, I systematically quantify the effects of LTCI on three major types of LTC, namely, nursing home care, formal home care, and informal care. Second, to obtain consistent estimates, I explicitly address the endogeneity of LTCI purchases in all models. Finally, I address these issues with the most recent and nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The results from this dissertation suggest that LTCI significantly changes the patterns of care utilization. LTCI decreases the probability of entering a nursing home, and increases the use of formal home care. In the meantime, the level of informal care is maintained rather than reduced. Based on these findings, LTCI allows elders to avoid or at least postpone nursing homes, and encourages the use of formal home care, which is a less costly alternative to institutional care. public policies aimed at promoting LTCI should have the expected effects of correcting the institutional bias and reducing the cost pressure on Medicaid, if they are well targeted at the middle-income population who would otherwise spend down to qualify for Medicaid payments. By directing resources to formal home care without discouraging family care-giving, LTCI helps reduce unnecessary nursing home stays, and more efficiently finance LTC services.},
	keywords = {Healthcare, Medicare/Medicaid/Health Insurance},
	author = {Yong Li}
}
