• Survey Research
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.97-121
• /
• 2010

Using the 1998-2004 Health and Retirement Study(HRS), this study explored the determinants of private long-term care insurance(LTCI) ownership and the first home care use. To account for the interaction between LTCI purchase and home care use, this study used two-period utility model as theoretical framework. Discrete time model was used as an empirical model to incorporate the time-dependent feature of LTCI ownership. And this study accounted for the endogeneity of LTCI ownership and home care use by employing full information maximum likelihood estimation. This study indicated insignificant effects of private LTCI ownership and Medicaid eligibility on the home care use. Also, the effects of income and assets on home care utilization were negligible. Those who have poor health condition and who do not have potential informal caregivers were more likely to use home care. For private LTCI ownership, income and assets have positive relationship with LTCI purchase, and poor health status and age were negatively related to LTCI purchase. The elderly living with children and those who have more siblings were less likely to have private LTCI, and those who lived with spouses with no children were more likely to buy private LTCI. Based on the findings, this study provides implications to design long-term care(LTC) policies in the U.S. and to develop LTC planning education programs.