ABSTRACT
The role of private market initiatives in helping to address the need for long-term care services has begun to receive widespread attention for a number of reasons. In 1979, the National Center for Health Services Research undertook a multifaceted study to determine whether and under what circumstances a market for long-term care insurance could exist. Much of the hope for improved private markets for long-term care depends on the development of cash-accumulation and risk-pooling mechanisms for financing those services. If a disproportionately large number of people who purchase long-term care insurance will actually require services, the price will become quite high, making it difficult to establish a viable insurance market. One possibility is to develop Medicare supplemental policies that include long-term care benefits. Cash-accumulation vehicles dedicated to the payment of long-term care expenses are also receiving consideration. The potential for state governments to foster private market long-term care initiatives is significant.
