Article
Long-term Care Financing and Delivery in Germany
| p-ISSN | 1226-2641 |
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Abstract
Long-term care (LTC) insurance in Germany covers all peoplewho need LTC regardless of age. Although both Japan andGermany adopted social insurance for LTC, there exist differencesbetween them. Distinct aspects of LTC insurance in Germanyinclude: 1) benefits are fixed depending on three types of severity,which is assessed based on the activities of daily living, and itaims to cover only the basic or minimum need for LTC, 2)beneficiaries are given the choice between cash benefits andbenefits-in-kind in order to promote the role of family (informalcare-givers), and 3) the insurer is a not-for-profit organization andfinancing is entirely dependent on contribution without governmentsubsidy. Since the introduction of LTC insurance in Germany,delivery system of LTC has expanded with active roles of privateproviders. When introducing the public financing mechanism forLTC, Korea should seriously take into account the policy priority,nature of risk, optimal timing of introduction, share of public andprivate responsibility, role of family, infrastructure of deliverysystem, community- vs institution-based care, and coordinationbetween health care and social care.