Differences in Family Caregivers' Opinions about Out-of-Pocket Payment for Long-Term Care Facilities by Income Levels.
10.4332/KJHPA.2017.27.2.139
- Author:
Jinhee KWON
1
;
Yongpil MOON
;
Jung Suk LEE
;
Eun Jeong HAN
Author Information
1. Institute for Health Insurance Policy Research, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju, Korea. 070007@nhis.or.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Long-term care facility;
Out-of-pocket payment;
Income level;
Long-term care insurance
- MeSH:
Aged;
Caregivers;
Health Expenditures*;
Humans;
Insurance, Long-Term Care;
Long-Term Care*
- From:Health Policy and Management
2017;27(2):139-148
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to investigate family caregivers' opinions about out-of-pocket payment for long-term care (LTC) facilities, and find the differences in the opinions for family caregivers of all different levels of income. METHODS: We used the data of the study on out-of-pocket payment in national long-term care insurance, including 1,552 family caregivers with the elderly in long-term care facilities. RESULTS: The average out-of-pocket payment per month was 511,635 Korean won and distributed from 230,750 to 1,365,570 Korean won. The amount of out-of-pocket payment might be affected by not co-payment but the cost of non-covered service. There were differences in them for family caregivers of all different levels of income. Opinions were surveyed about 5 issues. By levels of income, there were differences in their opinions about 3 issues, the financial burden on LTC, the necessity of reducing out-of-pocket payments, and to be willing to pay more for a high quality service. But there were not different opinions about the interruption of LTC service and staying with LTC facilities. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the range of out-of-pocket payment for LTC facility is wide and it can be a burden to lower income group. It should be to prepare the policies to ease the financial burden and support the appropriate LTC use.
