Long term care insurance: A survey of insurer attitudes

Abstract

Financing long term care for the aged is a growing challenge in Australia as for other countries with an ageing population. One potential component of any financing system is private, voluntary insurance. This exists in the United States of America (USA) and France, among other countries, but is non-existent in Australia. The results of a recent survey of Australian financial services providers exploring possible reasons for this are presented in this paper. Questions of insurability, supply- and demand- barriers and outlook for the future are addressed and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The survey consisted of an online component supplemented by personal interviews. The views of financial services providers are vital to establishing what changes might be required in order to make private, voluntary long term care insurance viable in Australia, or indeed to determine if this is not a likely outcome under most reasonable scenarios. There is insight for policy makers regarding the views of providers on the role that government 10 could play. Indeed a multi-stakeholder collaborative approach is seen as essential to overcoming the significant barriers currently perceived by providers.