The “spillover effect” of long-term care insurance in China on spouses’ health and well-being

Abstract

This study examined the spillover effect of long-term care insurance (LTCI) on the health outcomes and well-being of spouses for Chinese middle and old-aged adults with expected LTC demand or actual care burdens. Using panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study between 2011 and 2018, we investigated the impact of the introduction of LTCI pilots across several cities on old individuals by using the difference-in-differences (DID) approach. We found a spillover effect of LTCI on the health and well-being outcomes of spouses of middle and old-aged individuals with functional limitations. It might due to the fact that LTCI could relieve economic burden by reducing out-of-pocket medical expenditures, which further affects health and well-being of spouses. The spillover effect on health and well-being was found to be stronger for male spouses and low-educated spouses. Spouses of the individuals aged below 80 years old and those live without adult children were more likely to benefit from the introduction of LTCI. Moreover, providing combination benefits seems to make spouses better off than offering direct services. Therefore, the results implied that the expansion of LTCI not only helped the care recipients themselves but could also improve the health and well-being of the spouses of functionally impaired older adults.