The Study Of The Effect Of A Long-term Care Insurance Program On The Subjective Well-being Of Older Adults

With the deepening of aging in China,the problem of life care is becoming increasingly serious.Unmet care needs can lead to a decline in the quality of life,deterioration of mental health,and even induce suicidal.Therefore,it has become an urgent need for older adults to effectively meet their needs,and to improve their quality of life and subjective well-being.Social security and related policies such as social insurance,social assistance,and social welfare are important factors in improving the life quality and well-being of people.As the “sixth insurance” of social insurance,longterm care insurance should theoretically have similar social welfare effects as other social insurance.However,long-term care insurance in China is still in the pilot stage.There are problems such as small coverage and insufficient protection.These problems may make long-term care insurance not achieve the desired effect.Clarifying the relationship between the current long-term care insurance system and the subjective well-being of the older adults is not only conducive to clarifying the welfare effect of long-term care insurance,but also plays an important role in promoting the development and improvement of the long-term care insurance system in China.Based on the background,this paper selects panel data from 2011,2014,and 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey(CLHLS)database and conducts an empirical analysis by constructing the propensity score matching and difference-indifference(PSM-DID)model to investigate whether the implementation of long-term care insurance policy in China has really improved the subjective well-being of the elderly.A series of robustness tests are conducted to ensure the robustness of the above result.At the same time,this paper analyzes the heterogeneous effects of long-term care insurance on different groups of older adults.Finally,this paper analyzes the potential mechanisms of the effect of long-term care insurance on subjective well-being.The research has the following conclusions: first,the implementation of long-term care insurance significantly increases the life satisfaction of disabled older adults and reduces the depression of disabled older adults;second,the results of heterogeneous analysis show that the effect of long-term care insurance on subjective well-being varies by gender and living arrangement.In particular,long-term care insurance had significant promoting effects on the life satisfaction of female older adults with a disability,disabled older people living alone,and non-disabled older people living alone,and long-term care insurance significantly reduced the depression of female older adults with a disability and the older people living alone.Based on the above findings,this paper conducted a mechanism test to examine the mechanism of the effect of long-term care insurance on subjective well-being.The results show that long-term care insurance can enhance the subjective well-being of the disabled elderly by meeting their care needs and improving their self-rated health.Based on the above research results,this paper puts forward the following suggestions: first,on the basis of the existing pilot,the government should further promote the pilot work of the long-term care insurance system.On the one hand,the government should increase the number of pilot cities,on the other hand,the government should continue to expand the coverage of the existing projects.Second,the relevant departments should clarify the service content of the long-term care insurance system,and the service design should be based on the actual situation of older adults,focusing on long-term disabled female older people and older adults living alone.Third,the government should encourage the development of commercial long-term care insurance,promote the combination of commercial long-term care insurance and social long-term care insurance,and constantly promote the construction and improvement of the long-term care security system.Fourth,while the long-term care insurance system is constantly improving the disability compensation service,it should also prevent the occurrence of disability through health publicity,constantly promote the health status of the elderly,and reduce the care pressure on family and society.Fifthly,the service design should emphasize the priority principle of home care,which not only reduces the burden of family care but also helps to save funds and promote the sustainable development of the long-term care insurance system.