We study preferences for different types of home care insurance using a discrete choice experiment. We consider domestic, personal, and social care, a home care annuity, and a lump-sum for home adaptations. To understand variation in preferences, we relate willingness to pay to personal circumstances, preferences, and expectations. We find that the majority value in-kind and in-cash insurance above the actuarial premium. While most respondents value coverage for basic levels of support, we find diminishing marginal utility for higher levels of support. For in-kind care, willingness to pay is positively associated with respondent characteristics: being single, household income, home ownership, risk aversion, low bequest motives, expected length of home care use, expected expenditures when in need of care, and low expected availability of informal care. In contrast, in-cash support is valued regardless of respondent characteristics, possibly because its inherent flexibility. These results contribute to the design of insurance schemes for home care.

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Overview publication

TitlePreferences for in-kind and in-cash home care insurance.
DateJuly 1st, 2022
Issue nameJournal of health economics
Issue numberv84:102626
DOI10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102626
PubMed35569208
Authorsde Bresser J, Knoef M & van Ooijen R
KeywordsDiscrete choice experiment, Health expectations, Home care, Long-term care insurance, Saving motives, Willingness to pay
Read Read publication