An Empirical Analysis of Patterns in the Japanese Long-Term Care Insurance System

The recently enacted Japanese long-term care (LTC) system was implemented to reduce the so-called “social hospitalization” or warehousing of the elderly in expensive medical facilities. This paper seeks to evaluate recent patterns in Japanese LTC use and examine the factors associated with LTC utilization patterns. We show that the use of LTC in Japan – particularly home care – is growing rapidly, as the elderly consumers find subsidized LTC care preferable to and more available than hospitalization. At the same time, regional disparities in terms of entitlement and care use persist and are likely to grow. The Geneva Papers (2008) 33, 694–709. doi:10.1057/gpp.2008.25