The WHO Centre for Health Development has updated a series of country report summaries on pricing and purchasing long-term care (LTC) from its work with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Drawn from the book Pricing long-term care for older persons, the summaries aim to make these country case studies and experiences easily available to policymakers. Each country case study discusses strengths and weaknesses, best practices and lessons for other settings. They were edited by WKC’s Director, Dr Sarah Barber.
LTC pricing and purchasing in Australia is characterised by consumer choice and control within a highly regulated, market-based system. This brief was written by Sarah Wise and Michael Woods of the University of Technology Sydney, and Kees van Gool of the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia. Lessons for other settings include designing services that better reflect consumers’ wishes and improve sustainability; considering household wealth and equity; and using consumer choice within a market-based system to drive competition on quality and price.
Japan’s brief focuses on expanding services, controlling costs and developing new forms of institutional care in the country by Prof Naoki Ikegami of Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. Lessons for other countries include the importance of ensuring sustainability, setting eligibility criteria and regulating the fee schedule which should be monitored for equity and evaluated, and providing information for informed choice.
In the Netherlands, price setting and contracting help to ensure equitable access to LTC. This summary was written by Peter Bakx, Erik Schut and Bram Wouterse of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, (Kingdom of the) Netherlands. For other settings, lessons include the need to align decision-making power, incentives and financial risk throughout the system, integrating pricing for tailored care and providing incentives to improve patient outcomes.
The brief for the United States examines the safety net for care services by Dr Luca Lorenzoni of the OECD in Paris, France. For other settings, lessons include how low demand for long-term services and support (LTSS) insurance due to low perception of risk, declining private insurance and large variations in coverage and access at state level highlight the need for a comprehensive system. This would be an efficient way to mitigate the financial risk for households federal and state governments, and the economy as a whole.
Click here for the full report, and here for more on this project.